Hearts of Darkness
by SpartaLazor
Summary: When I woke up this morning, I had no idea who I was, what had happened, or how I got in Orre. Trying to regain lost memories isn't as easy as some would think, considering that there seem to be no traces of me at all. But, in the meantime, Shadow Pokemon have started popping up, and it's up to me, and David; a slightly experienced trainer, and Dawn; a Champion, to save the world.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter One: Awake and Alive_

Memory is a tricky thing, always leaving when you need it, and always there when you don't.

I woke up, staring at the morning sky. Clouds high in the sky, bird Pokemon that I had never seen before were flying. It was a beautiful day to be alive. I was on my back, staring up through the forest canopy. It was beautiful.

Time was passing slowly, and I just layed there. I had no idea of how I got here, or who I was or where I was. It was all a blur. Colors faded in and out, sounds clashed together, but I couldn't remember a thing.

Long story short, I got fucked up somewhere.

"Come on, Jovi!" I heard a voice shout. "Give me a hand. We need to get this data back to the Lab."

"Just a minute, big brother. Jovi wants to know if this guy is okay," said another voice. I looked up, and saw a little girl, roughly seven or eight years old. She had blue hair, and a white shirt. "Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Um...yeah, I guess." Her older brother walked over, inspecting me.

"Who are you?" He asked, then he noticed the bloodstains on my head. "What happened? Do you need medical help?" He was talking very slowly, as if I was dumb.

I smiled sheepishly. " I don't know, I don't remember," I admitted. "I don't remember anything about me."

"Amnesia? Believe it or not, Professor Krane gets that a lot out here," He said. "Most of the time it's just drunks who fall around and hit their faces, but Krane can help," the boy said. He was roughly my age, with a brighter red hair than mine. "Do you remember anything at all?"

I strained my brain to remember. "All I remember is a name, and it's not mine."

"Who's is it?"

"I think it was some girl I knew. I think her name was Maddison."

The kid held his hand out to help me up. "I'm David," he said, as I took his hand, and he helped me up. "If you want, when we get back to the Lab, I'll pull up some of the social media sites and look for any girls named Maddison."

I gave a sheepish grin. "Sounds kinda stalkerish, but sure."

David walked over to his scooter, and grabbed the handlebars, and the three of us started walking.

"Do you remember your name?" David asked after a few minutes of silence.

I shook my head. "Not really. All that I remember is just blurs of color, and sound."

David nodded. "Professor Krane helped a few other people with problems like this," he said. "I think he could help you."

"Great," I replied.

"Oh, and the Sinnoh League Champion is at the Lab," David added. "She was supposed to be helping me and Jovi collect data."

I paused for a minute. "It sounds familiar."

"What does?" David asked, stopping in his tracks.

"The Sinnoh League Champion, I think I knew who it was, or who it used to be." My mind struggled to access some long lost memory, but it was soon lost once more.

David continued walking, pushing the scooter along. "Perhaps you'll recognize her when you see her."

"Her name wouldn't be Maddison, would it?" I asked, slightly hopeful.

"Nope." David turned to face me. "Her name is Dawn...something. Ring any bells?"

I bit my lip, trying to force something to come back to me. "It does sound familar, but kinda in the back of my head," I explained. "Like I knew who she was, but didn't really care."

David shrugged. "It's a start at least." He thought for a minute. "Check you pockets for anything," he suggested. "Jovi, take the data back to the lab, and tell Krane that there's someone who needs help with their memory."

"Okay, big brother," the little kid replied. "Can Jovi take the scooter?" I rolled my eyes, since I found it highly annoying when people reffered to themselves in the third person.

"I suppose, just be careful and don't crash into the wall again," David answered, and watched as his sister hopped on and drove off.

In the meantime, I was digging through my pockets, searching for anything that could help me remember who I was. I did find some objects so far; a scrap of folded paper, three empty Pokeballs, and a picture.

I stared down at the picture in my hand, David looking over my shoulder. In the photograph, A younger me stood, smug smile on my face, wearing a cleaner version of what I had on now, a blue jacket, with gray jeans. And I had a bag over my shoulder in the picture, which I no longer had.

The picture form of me was surrounded by five Pokemon, species I couldn't name for the life of me. The first was a large dog like Pokemon, and next to it was a grass snake, and next to that was a water monkey, and next to that was a fire creature.

"A Herdier, Servine, Panpour, and Darumaka," David said, naming off the Pokemon species. "Judging from that, I'd think that you came from Unova."

I thought for a moment. "Where am I now?"

"Orre. Probably the least popular reigon in the world."

Hoping that the folded piece of paper would bring some light, some clue, a name, a number, anything into the mystery, I unfolded it, seeing a few lines of words.

_A great love is lot like a good memory. When it's there, and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach, it can be all you think about. Then you can focus on it and try to force it, but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But, if you're patient and you hold still, well maybe, just maybe, it'll come to you._

I furrowed my eyebrows as I read it again. And again. "What does it say?" David asked, and I handed it to him.

He read it. "That's pretty deep," he commented. "Perhaps it's right. Maybe you should just hold still and let it come back to you."

Releasing a deep breath, I had to think. "That's probably the best choice, but I really want to know who I am," I answered. "My parents are probably worried sick right now."

David snapped his fingers. "That's it! If you're parents were worried, they'd go to the police and file a missing person report."

"I think you have something there," I agreed. "But what if I was out on a journey, and they wouldn't have a reason to file a report since they wouldn't know I was missing?"

"Crap," he muttered, realizing that I was right. "We'll look anyway, and then...we'll go from there."

Stuffing the Pokeballs into my pocket, I took a final look at the picture. "That bag," I noticed. "That might be the key. We need to find it." I turned around to head back to where I woke up, but David stopped me.

"Krane will get some people out here tomorrow to look for it," he assured me. "But in the meantime, you need a place to stay for the night."

I sighed. "Fine, but make sure you have a ton of root beer."

"Trust us, we have plenty."

The Pokemon Lab was a giant white two story building, with a bigass Pokeball on top. A set of stairs led up to the sidewalk, and David's scooter was smashed into the bottom step, leaving a dent in the front.

"Jovi," he muttered with the slightest hint of rage.

"In all fairness," I interjected, "You did say not to crash into the wall."

David shot me a look. "Perhaps we should check the smartass website," he said sarcastically. "I'm sure you'd be on it."

"Now isn't the time to bicker," I told him as I tapped my head. "We have much work to do."

The interior of the lab was rather tidy and organized. A girl was asleep at the reception desk, and there were two rooms on either side of an elevator. "Krane's office is on the second floor," David explained, walking into the lift. I followed, and we went up in silence.

The doors slid open, allowing us access to the second floor. "First door to the right," David informed me. "Just in case you ever get lost."

"I doubt I'd get lost in here," I said, as we walked into the office. There was a desk close to the wall, and book cases behind it. A man in a lab coat sat at the desk, reading over something on his computer. He had brown hair, slightly messy and frizzy, probably from a long period of work. He had glasses sitting in one hand, and was rubbing his eyes with the other.

"Professer Krane?" David asked, cautiously stepping into the room.

The man looked up, and put his glasses on. "Ah, David, It's about time you got here," Krane said. "It's almost time for your training simulation." He picked up a disk from the desk, and handed it to David. "That's the newest simulation. So far, only a Salamence and a Metagross have been programed into it, but I'll add more once all the bugs are worked out."

"I suppose you want me to get straight to it." David spun the disk around his finger, and headed for the door.

"Hey David! Wait for me!" a girl shouted as she ran into the room. She was roughly my age, in her midteens, with dazzling blue eyes, long navy blue hair that went down half her back. She was wearing a light red jacket with blue short shorts. "You might need some help."

Krane adjusted his glasses. "Miss Hikari," he addressed the girl. "I am confident in David's abilities as a Trainer. He has learned quite a bit from you, and I believe that he is able to fight for himself now."

"Oh," she said, seeming disappointed. She and I locked eyes, and stood there looking at each other. I felt my heart rate increase, and my palms became slightly sweaty. I broke the stare by glancing back over at David, who was still spinning the disk around his finger.

The girl pointed at me. "What about him?" she asked. "Does he need any help with training?"

Krane shrugged at the same time I did. "I don't know, he lost his memory, or so I heard," Krane replied.

"Oh." She instantly smiled and walked over, holding her hand out to me. "I'm Dawn Hikari, and I'll be your personal trainer for a little while."

"Dawn, as in the Sinnoh League Champion Dawn?" I asked, shaking her hand.

Her smiled wided. "The one and only," she answered, pointing at the Sinnoh Champion Badge pinned to her jacket collar. It was the size of a quarter, and had a Pokeball design with the outline of the Sinnoh reigon on it.

"I've heard a little bit about you that I can remember," I said, being honest. All I knew of her was what David had told me. It was barely registering that we had stopped shaking hands, but now we were holding hands.

"Well," David said after a second. "You two have fun. I'm going to train."

Dawn began pulling me along with her as she ran after David. "Come on! Let's watch his battle and I'll point out everything he does wrong!"

"Like I have a choice," I muttered, struggling to keep my balance as I was pulled along. Oddly, this seemed vaguely familiar.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two: Sitting Around the Campfire_

**Snowpoint City, Sinnoh Region**

The blizzard had forced nearly everyone into their homes. Three heavily cloaked figures wandered through the deep snow, headed for a building in the distance.

"Seriously, where are we going?" one of the figures asked. He was the second tallest in the group, and he was roughly fifteen.

"Snowpoint Temple," replied the smallest in the group. She was at the head of the three of them roughly age fourteen, and all of them were wearing heavy brown cloaks that covered most of their bodies, keeping their identities secret.

"What for?" the teen boy asked, a hint of a whine in his voice. "It's so cold."

"We need to leave the package in a place we know he'll find it," she replied, holding up a small object. "Once he reads the files on the flash drive, he too will know the truth, and the hardest part about it all."

"Are you sure that he'll be here?" The tallest figure asked, speaking for the first time in hours.

"Positive. Celebi went to the future and told me upon her return." She sighed, and put her hands into her hood to rub her temples.

The tallest figure, who was roughly thirty years old, folded his arms. "That's the thing about time travel. Even the slightest event can change the future. I'm not a big fan of it."

The teen girl shook her head. "Time travel is the only reason you know what's going on," she said. "Celebi also showed me the future if we fail in our mission."

"I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this," the teen boy sighed.

"It was all dead. Time had ceased to flow. Space was unstable. Life couldn't exsist." She paused, letting it sink in. "The fate of the whole world rests in our hands."

**Pokemon Research Lab, Orre Region**

"So, you got a name?" Dawn asked, leaning against the wall as we watched the moniters that displayed David's battle.

"Yeah," I replied, folding my arms. "But I don't know it."

Dawn shook her head as David's Salamence used Dragon Claw on the enemy Metagross. "He thinks that since Salamence is a Dragon-Type, that Dragon Claw would be effective," she said, "but he doesn't seem to know that Steel-Types are resistant to Dragon."

"That's something a skilled Trainer would need to know," I agreed, shoving my hands into my pockets. "His Salamence knows Earthquake, which should be what he needs to use."

"Yep." She looked over at me. "Have you ever been to Sinnoh? I think I might have seen you around before."

I shrugged. "I couldn't tell you," I answered. "But I would doubt it." I handed her the picture of me and the Pokemon. "I think I came from Unova."

Dawn studied the picture, and then pointed at a person in the background. "Who is she? Can you remember?"

I took the photo back, and started the girl in question. It was something I had overlooked, but there was a teenage girl just a few feet behind me in the photo. She had pink hair, with pale skin. Wearing a leather jacket and tight black jeans. My mind struggled to put a name to the face, but nothing was connecting.

"I can't remember..." I admitted after a few seconds. Was this the Maddison girl I knew?

Sighing, Dawn frowned. "I really want to help you, but I have no idea how." She looked up and smiled. "For the time being, I'm gonna call you Red," she pointed at my ginger hair. "It's the name of the Champion of Kanto."

I gave her a faint smile. "I doubt that I was that famous."

"Perhaps with a bit of tutoring from the Sinnoh champ, you can become the Champion of any reigon you want," Dawn said, folding her arms as she stared at me, waiting for me to reply.

I thought it over. Maybe I didn't need tutoring. Maybe I was the Champion of a region, and simply went to Unova to keep traveling... I laughed to myself at the idea. If I truly were a Champion, I'm sure that I would have been recognized by now.

"What the heck," I said after a minute, returning the picture to my pocket. My thoughts were that I could possibly remember something through her training, or something like that.

Grinning from ear to ear, Dawn nodded. "Alright, then we'll need to get you your own Pokemon, unless you know the whereabouts of your Unovian Pokemon...?"

"Not really," I answered, shaking my head.

"I know a good Pokemon to get you," Dawn said. "I asked Rowan to send it over on the SS Libra. It should reach the port in a week."

"What is it?" I asked, out of morbid curiousity.

Dawn clasped her hands behind her back. "It's a secret. But I know you'll love it when you see it."

I nodded. And then I realized something. "Aren't we supposed to be doing something?"

"Um...oh! We're supposed to help David with his battle!" Dawn realized, eyes darting to the moniters.

"Don't even bother," David said, as he walked over with a sour look on his face. "It was over before it began." He rolled his eyes as he cracked his knuckles. "Thanks for you help by the way, I might have won if you had helped."

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I should have payed more attention."

David smiled slightly. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to the always eager to help Champion."

"Sorry," Dawn muttered, looking at the ground. "I was trying to help Red here regain some memory."

"Red?" David asked, raising his eyebrows. I responded by pointing at my red hair. David nodded as he rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said as he rubbed his hands together. "Let's get lunch. I'm starved."

The lunchroom in Orre's Pokemon Lab was very unimpressive. Five tables, with four chairs each, crammed into a where there was already not enough room. Stacks of paper and other research were piled messily onto one table, while two others were occupied by some researchers.

Dawn dropped her bag by one chair at an empty table, and the three of us went to the buffet. Despite the small space, the food was great. They even took take out orders for Trainers on the the go.

I looked down at the food options, feeling a strange sensation. Like deja vu. I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to force some lost memories back into my mind. I remembered something...a buffet in a big city...then it faded.

Blinking back into the real world, I sighed, ticked that I had lost the memory. Grabbing a plate, I filled it with some food, and returned to the table, where David and Dawn already were. David's plate was piled high with assorted food, and he was scarfing it down. Dawn had less than David, but was scarfing it down with the same feriocity.

I shook my head sadly as David paused the assault to pull out a single Pokeball, and releasing the Pokemon inside. It was a Eevee, which I recognized, only from a part of my mind that stored info like that.

The Eevee hopped onto the table, and stole a piece of corn from David's plate, and commencing to devour it. Stopping for a second, the Eevee looked up and at Daivd and asked; "Can you pass the salt?"

I had been taking a giant swig of root beer at the time, and now I spit it out all over the floor.

"Um...you okay, Red?" Dawn asked, looking down at the puddle of root beer on the floor.

"The Eevee...the Eevee just asked for the salt..." I was trying to sort it out. "It just talked...what in the hell?"

"No, it didn't..." David said, eyeing me suspiciously. He looked down at his Eevee. "Did you ask for the salt, Eve?"

Eve nodded.

"...okay..." David slid the salt over to Eve, who took it in both of her paws and struggled to get some on her corn. "So you heard her talk, right?" he asked me.

"Yeah, and you didn't?"

"Nope."

I did the math. "So I can understand Pokemon, and no one else can?"

"Apparently so," David replied. "I've heard of this happening, but it's quite rare. You'd be the first person I've met who can do that."

"Just when I thought my life was as screwed up as it could get," I muttered, watching as Eve still fought with the salt shaker.

"Look on the brightside," Eve said as she spilled salt all over the table. "You have opposable thumbs."

Dawn decided that it was her turn to input her opinion. "Believe it or not, I've met someone with something like this before shortly after I became the Champion." She thought for a moment, before continuing. "Lucas visited Lake Verity, and came back claiming that he had met Mespirit, who had given him the power to understand Pokemon so he could help her on a quest."

"...and?" I asked, taking another sip of root beer.

"...and no one has seen him since," Dawn finished. "I still get texts from him sometimes, telling me to let his parents know he's okay and that he'll go back home once he's done helping Mespirit."

David snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "Perhaps Mespirit was using you to help her, and then something happened, and you lost you memory, so Mespirit used Lucas to take your place."

"I doubt that very highly," Dawn said, swirling her Pepsi around in the can. "The time frames don't match up. Lucas disappeared over four weeks ago, and Red here just appeared."

Eve grabbed the corn cob in her teeth and dragged it over to the pile of salt that had accumulated on the table. Dragging the cob through the pile several times, she seemes satisfied. "If you ask me," she said, despite only I understood her. "He probably got wasted and smashed his face on a rock, like all the others."

"Well, Krane probably wants to see me about how the sim was," David said, standing up and stretching, completely oblivious to Eve's remark. "So that's where I'm heading. Maybe I can walk off the shock."

Dawn stood up and grabbed her bag. "I'll go too. Red?"

"I've got nowhere better to go," I answered, standing up and brushing stray crumbs off of me. "Let's go."

**...**

"The battle coach was slightly disappointed with you loss David," Krane said. "But that is not the problem. Apparently, I made the Metagross' stats too high."

"What? Really?" David asked, sitting up in his chair. "You mean it wasn't really my fault?"

"It wasn't you fault," Krane replied, tapping a pen on his desk. "I ran some test with other Trainers, and you lasted the longest, which was good for a Salamence facing a Metagross twice as strong as it."

A smile grew on David's face, while the woman next to the Professer's desk frowned.

She had brown hair up a ball on her head, with a pink coat like top with three rows of two buttons running down the middle, and a matching skirt. "With all due respect, Professer Krane," the woman said, "I'm not overly fond of the prasie my children get around the lab. I don't want David or Jovi getting spoiled."

Krane chuckled as he stood up and patted her shoulder. "Relax Lily, David did pretty well in a battle that was impossible to win," he said, smiling as he folded his arms over his chest. "He deserves the prasie that comes his way. Someday, maybe Jovi will also grow up to be as good as David is."

David was practically beaming right now, and I looked back down at the folded piece of paper, reading the quote on there.

_A great love is lot like a good memory. When it's there, and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach, it can be all you think about. Then you can focus on it and try to force it, but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But, if you're patient and you hold still, well maybe, just maybe, it'll come to you._

Questions bounced around inside my head. Why did I have this? Where did it come from? Is it some sort of messege telling me just to let my memory come back slowly? Why in the hell can I understand Pokemon? Internally groaning, I put the note back into my pocket, and looked up to see what everyone else was up to.

Lily's eyes widened in realization. "I haven't see Jovi since..." she glanced down at her watch. "Three hours ago. Can you go and find her, David? You friends can help too if they want."

David nodded as he stood up. "Um...sure." He looked over to Dawn and I, who were patiently standing by the door.

"I'll help," Dawn said, taking a step foreward.

"I'm sure the two of you can handle a task such as this," Krane interjected. "I would like to have a chance to...discuss this young man's situation." He pointed at me.

Lily shrugged. "Then I guess I have some paperwork to do somewhere else." She left the room, heading for the elevator.

Krane turned to David. "I left a PDA in your room, so be sure to grab it on your way."

"No prob," David replied, as he and Dawn headed for the elevator. "Anything else?"

"Nope, that's all," Krane answered, and the two left, leaving me with the Professer. "So tell me, what have you remembered, if anything?"

"Well...not much," I said. "I remember a buffet in a big city, and I learned that I can understand Pokemon."

Krane was writing in a notebook, and he looked up. "...okay, right," he replied, as if he thought I was lying. "Now anyway, about this buffet...in a big city?"

I nodded.

"Was it Saffron City perhaps?"

"I don't think so, it doesn't sound that familiar."

Krane scribbled a few more notes. "I see. What about Goldenrod City?"

I shook my head, not remembering a Goldenrod City.

"Then was it Veilstone City?"

Veilstone City sounded familiar, but I didn't think that was the right city. "I remember a Veilstone City," I answered. "I don't think that was where the buffet was, though."

Krane nodded. "We'll come back to that. There are only a few more cities that I would classify as large left. Casteila City, Slateport City, and Lilycove City. Any of those ring any bells?"

My mind raced as I thought as hard as I could. "Casteila seems familiar," I answered. "That might've been where the buffet was. And, Slateport, it just seems to slightly ring a bell, but nothing major."

Writing some final notes, Krane sat down in his chair behind his desk. "Okay then. You can go catch up with David and Miss Hikari if you so choose," he said as he typed on his computer. I honestly didn't know why he reffered to Dawn as Miss Hikari all the time, but that was nothing I really cared about. Maybe he was being polite or something.

"Alright, then," I said, standing up. "I guess I'll see you around." I left the office and took the elevator to the bottom floor, where I saw David and Dawn walking through the doors. "Wait up!" I called as I ran after them.

"Did you learn anything?" Dawn asked, sticking her hands in her pockets. David slung a backpack over one of his shoulders, letting it holding on by a single strap.

"Nothing real interesting, just something about a buffet in a large city," I replied, getting strange looks from both David and Dawn. "Long story."

Shrugging, David pointed out in a direction, south of the lab. "Jovi ran off to Dr. Kaminko's lab. Fortunately, she isn't causing any trouble, and Dr. Kaminko is quite happy that someone so young can take an intrest in his work." He rolled his eyes. "The sun is setting, so we're just going to get as far as we can before it gets too dark, and then we'll camp out."

"It's been a while since I last camped out," Dawn said, smiling. "I hope someone brought marshmellows."

"Oh, I wasn't expecting something so extravegent," David admitted. "I'm sure that we don't have any marshmellows in the lab at all anymore. Sorry."

Dawn pouted, and started walking ahead of us. "This is going to be the worst camp out ever. Of all time."

"Not my fault. Some Munchlax ate all the marshmellows," David responded. We walked in complete silence for an hour, and stopped just as the sun set across a mountain, leaving us in the dark. Literally.

"Okay," David threw his backpack to the ground. "This is where we'll camp for the night. Dawn, get some sticks for the fire, and Red, get rocks to put around the fire, while I dig a small pit for it."

We went off to do our assigned jobs, and soon we had a nice fire going. I was sitting next to Dawn, whle David sat on the opposite side of the fire. We sat and stared into the crackling flames for a little while, until a voice called out.

"Hey, can I share your fire?" It was a man, roughly in his early twenties or late teens. He had long green hair that went down his back. The man had a white shirt on, with khaki pants, and a black cap.

David shrugged, and looked down at Eve, who was asleep by his feet. "Sure, why not?"

"Thanks," the man said, and sat down on a tree stump a few feet from the fire. He removed something from his back, and leaned it against a tree nearby. It was an acoustic gituar, with a large white dragon painted on the front. He tossed a black backpack next to it.

"So," Dawn said, breaking the slightly awkward silence that had fallen over the camp. "What's your name?" She looked at the man with questioning eyes, trying to figure out whether he was a creep or some threat.

The man smiled and folded his arms across his chest. "Why do you ask?"

"Um...well, if you're going to share our fire, then we ought to know your name and stuff," Dawn replied, leaning back against a log behind her.

"Fair enough," he replied. "My name is N."

David glanced up at N. "Is that short for something? Like Nate? Or Nathan? Or Nathaniel? Or-"

"Yes, it is short for my full name, which I choose not to tell," N answered. He looked over at me, and frowned as he furrowed his brows in thought. "You're Trevor, right?"

This question caught me off guard, as I could be Trevor, but then again, maybe I wasn't. So I remained silent, trying to think of a way out. I really wasn't in the mood to tell a total stranger that I had amnesia, but if that was my name, then he could have valuble information.

"This ought to be interesting," Eve said, after just waking from her nap. "Amnesia can be a bitch."

Fortunatly, that's when Dawn came to my rescue.

"Why would you want to know?" Dawn asked, sitting up.

N pulled his bag closer, and reached into a side pocket. "I found this on the side of the dirt path, and I picked it up." He tossed an object towards me, and it landed in my lap. N smiled as he looked at Dawn and I, sitting next to each other. "You two make a great couple."

"We're not a couple!" Dawn blurted out, turning slightly red.

N's smile faded. "Oh. Sorry."

I held the object to the fire, so I could make out what it was. It was rectangular, and made of worn leather. I realized that it was a wallet. I opened it, only to find that most of the contents were gone, save for a single photo, and a Trainer ID card.

Dawn took out the ID card before I even had a chance to look at it. Not that I cared at the moment, I was busy staring at the picture. I hoped it would help me condition, but all it did was confuse me even more.

The picture was taken on a sunny day, out in a city. A younger me stood there, about a year younger than the other picture me. Dawn was in the photo, putting her head on my shoulder, and I had my arm around her. The date in the corner indictated that it had been taken over two years ago.

Well, that explained why N could've thought Dawn and I were a couple. But if even if we weren't, if Dawn was in the picture with me, then why didn't she remember me. I decided to keep this matter quiet for now.

"Here," Dawn said as he handed over the Trainer card. "It has some rather useful information on it."

The info on the ID card was quite helpful. According to it, my name was Trevor White. Currently, I am fifteen, since it was issued two years earlier when I was thirteen. My Sinnoh Trainer ID number was 35061. My mother's signature was on it, from when she had signed off for the card. Her name was Johanna White.

"You can run the information through the computers at the Pokemon Lab once we get back," David suggested. "That could help you clear up some of these mysteries."

"Amnesia is quite troubling," N agreed. "I could help, perhaps."

I looked over at him. "How did you know?"

N smiled and pointed down at Eve, who was curled up in a fluffy brown ball in front of the fire. "A little Eevee told me."

My eyes widened. "You can understand Pokemon too?"

N nodded. "I find it quite interesting that you can speak with them as well. I thought I might have been alone."

I scoffed. "Sometimes it ain't that great. Sometimes they have quite interesting things to say."

"Yeah, I've met one or two that cursed me out, but they weren't my Pokemon," N said, closing his eyes as he remembered something. At least he could remember something.

"I didn't catch your names," N said after a minute, looking over to Dawn and David.

"I'm Dawn, that's David," Dawn answered, staring straight into the fire. "You wouldn't happen to have marshmellows on you, would ya?"

"I'm afraid not," N replied, reaching over towards his gituar. "However, I could play a few songs, if I don't mess up horribly. Playing the gituar is a new concept to me. I've been learning, but-"

"Just shut up and play already," Dawn cut in, leaning against the log the two of us were sharing. I saw the reflection of the fire in her blue eyes, and let's say, I felt something. Something I couldn't quite describe.

"Alright, but if it doesn't sound right, let me know." N began to pluck a few stings. "Oh, and if you know this song, feel free to start singing."

After a few seconds of a melody, Dawn suddenly starting singing, keeping her unfocused gaze on the fire.

_I set out on a narrow way,_

_Many years ago._

_Hoping I could find true love,_

_Along the broken road._

Her voice was angelic, completely beautiful. N looked up at her and nodded, messing up on a few notes. He got right back on track though. Dawn began to sing the next verses, and David joined in.

_But I got lost a time or two,_

_Wiped my brow and kept pushing though._

_I couldn't see how every sign,_

_Pointed straight to you._

I smiled as I stared into the fire, letting the music wash over me. I didn't know the words to the song, but I let them continue, and I patted the ground with the beat.

_Every long lost dream, led me to where you are._

_Others that broke my heart, they were like northen stars._

_Pointing me on my way, into your loving arms._

For the next hour, we sat around singing songs, most of which I didn't know. Then, we decided to call it a night.

That was about an hour and a half ago, and I sat staring into the dying flames. It was roughly three in the morning, and I couldn't sleep.

"You still awake?" Dawn asked, yawning as she sat up. She was using her bag as a pillow, and her jacket as blanket. Underneath her red jacket, she wore a simple white tank top.

"Can't sleep," I replied, poking the embers with a stick.

"That's gotta suck," she said, blinking her tired eyes. "Any reason?"

I released a deep breath. "I'm afraid of my dreams. They might show events that happened in my past."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"What happens if I don't want to know what happened in my past?" I asked. "What if I had a terrible life?"

Dawn thought for a moment. "Since you don't know your past now, try to live as good a life as you can. That way, when it all comes back to you, if it was terrible, then you'll have a new life. A better one."

"A fresh start," I muttered. "It might just be what I need."

"And if things get rough," Dawn continued. "I'm here for you."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?"

I leaned back, propping my head up on the log, using it as a pillow. I'd wake up with a sore neck, but I didn't care at the moment. All I wanted to do was sleep, and that I was going to do. As I drifted off, I hoped that my dreams would be about fluffly bunnies and kittens and all that nice stuff.

But we don't always get what we want.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three: Serious, So Very Serious_

I tossed and turned in the night, my mind completely going nuts, throwing long lost memories around, mostly just sounds and blurred images.

_Promise me, that once this is all over, you'll come back alive._

_I promise, no matter what._

Tossing and turning again, I tried to wake up, but it was like I was trapped in my own mind, forced to watch as it taunted me by showing me memories that I never remembered.

_Two people at a beach. I only saw their silhouettes, one was a guy, the other was a girl, as they sat on the sand, staring into each other's eyes from a rather close distance. In the background, the sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow across the scene. _

_They leaned in for a kiss, as the scene changed to a bridge. Two more silhouettes were present, one guy, one girl just like in the first scene. Large boats sailed under the bridge as the two figures leaned against the railing, and looked at each other. They too leaned in to kiss, but a gunshot rang out._

I jerked upright, breathing heavily, looking around the campsite. David and Dawn were still asleep, and N was gone. His bag, his gituar, everything he had brought was gone. A note was secured in place under a few small rocks. I picked up the note, letting the pebbles fall to the ground.

_Dear friends,_

_I have left you, only because I am a lonesome drifter going from place to place, in search of who I really am. How I want to live my life. For the past year, this has been my goal. I do believe that we will cross paths again in the future, and I look forward to that moment._

_-N_

Shrugging, I folded the note up and stuck it in my pocket. I leaned back against the log I had used as a pillow, sighing as I thought about the dreams I had had.

None of it seemed familiar, so eventually I focused on the setting of the dreams.I know that there had been several, but they were fading away. I only remember the last two . The first was a beach, and the second was a giant bridge. Despite as hard as I tried, I could remember nothing.

"Dawn might know," I muttered, sticking my hands in my pockets. "After all, she is a Champion."

"Know what?" she asked warily, sitting up. Dawn rubbed her eyes, and blinked a few times, trying to wake up more.

"I'll tell you later," I told her. "You don't look like a morning person."

"I'm not," she replied. We sat in an awkward silence for several seconds. "How'd you sleep?"

"Horrible," I admitted. "I was right. I had dreams that I think were based on my life that I can't remember."

She stood up and stretched before tying her jacket across her waist. "...Well I slept pretty well, and it appears that David still is sleeping pretty well."

"Yeah, we should probably hit the road, get Jovi, and get back to the lab," I said, also standing up. I kicked some ashes from last night's fire, watching as a small cloud of gray dust rose.

"I'll wake up David." Dawn walked over to the sleeping teen, brought her foot back, and kicked David right in the back.

"What the hell..." he muttered, sitting up and looking around. "You could have let me sleep, ya know."

I nodded. "We know, but where's the fun in that?"

"I hate the both of you," David said, yawning and standing up and throwing his jacket on. "We're almost to Dr. Kaminko's house."

"Really?" Dawn askednd. "Then why did we camp out here? We could've at least got Jovi and made so progress back to the lab before we had to camp."

David started walking. "In all honesty, you don't want to spend the night with Jovi. She sleeps like a baby."

"Then what's the problem?" I asked.

"She wakes up every three hours and complains about something," David answered. He chuckled quietly to himself, and we kept walking. After only after a few minutes, we spotted a house in the distance. There were two huge tesla coils on either side, and what appeared to be a fountain in the middle of the yard, with a sculpture of a Pokemon on the top.

As we walked through the gate and up to the door, a small individual walked up. He was wearing a white lab coat, with glasses that had swirleys on the lenses.

"I am Chobin!" the man announced. "Number one aide to Dr. Kaminko! And who are you three?"

"Um, we're here for-" Dawn started, but she was cut off when Chobin started again.

"You must be thiefs! After Dr. Kaminko's inventions! But Chobin will deter your robbery!" He tossed out a Pokeball, unleashing a Sunkern.

"Perfect," David muttered as he sent out Eve. "This won't take long."

Eve yawned as she looked at the Sunkern. "What's up?" she asked the kernal.

"You don't want to know," Sunkern replied. "I have to deal with this nitwitt everyday of my life."

"My condolences," Eve said sympathetically. "My Trainer is a noob," she guestured to David, "Even though he's being trained by the Sinnoh Champion," Eve guestured to Dawn. "And he's some teenage drunk who smashed his face on a rock." Eve guesture to me. I gave her the one finger salute.

"Wow, I honestly don't know who has it worse," Sunkern said, waiting for a command.

"Eve use Bite!" David shouted, pointing at Sunkern. Eve ran at the Sunkern, and opened her mouth, and clamped down on Sunkern's body.

"Sorry about that," she apologized as she jumped back to David's side. I could tell from her tone that Eve really didn't care.

"It's fine," Sunkern replied, also sounding as if he didn't care.

"Use Tackle!" Chobin ordered, and Sunkern hopped over to Eve, and tackled her. The Eevee winced in pain, but she bit down on the Sunkern again, and slung it back a few feet.

"Eve, finish it off with Tackle!" Eve ran at the Sunkern, and jumped up, before coming donw on it, slamming it into the ground. Sunkern was knocked out.

Chobin collasped to his knees, and his glasses fell off. "Chobin will stop you, thieves!" He patted the ground in front of him, searching for his glasses.

David returned Eve to her ball, and handed Chobin's glasses to him.

"Hm?" Chobin looked up, examining David. He looked over each of us, before commenting. "It appears that you're not robbers. Then why are you here? Chobin hopes that it's not to disturb Dr. Kaminko."

"Actaully," Dawn interjected. "We're here for David's sister, Jovi. We heard she was here."

Chobin nodded. "There is a child here that has been interfering with Dr. Kaminko's work. He let her stay here the night, and Chobin had to tidy up the guest room."

The door opened, and Jovi walked out, looking as cheery as normal. "Hey big brother, and Dawn and other guy." I rolled my eyes, even though I was used to getting called that other guy and other stuff like that.

"Why are you out here big brother?" Jovi asked. "I know! You all got lost and needed Jovi to find you way."

"Yeah," David answered sarcastically. "That's exactly right."

Jovi smiled as she turned back to the door. "Jovi will help you find your way back, just after Jovi says goodbye to Dr. Kaminko!" Jovi ran back inside, leaving the three of us and Chobin standing around.

"That girl, always in Dr. Kaminko's face, such a nusciance. And you're here to take her back to her home, yes?" Chobin asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yep," David answered, tossing Eve's Pokeball up and down in his hand.

"Please come in while we wait for her," Chobin said, holding the door open for us. The interior of the room was pretty bare, save for a few bookshelves on the back wall, and a giant TV in the middle of the wall.

"Plasma screen TV," Dawn commented. "You guys have it nice here."

_Plasma. _The word echoed in my head, trying to find where it belong, and the memories attachted to it. I focused on it, and the first thing that came to mind was N. I kept trying hard to remember some sort of connection between the two, but then I lost it. Defeated, I release a heavy sigh.

"You okay?" Dawn asked, as she, David and Chobin looked at me, attention drawn to the sigh.

I waved the question away. "It's nothing."

Dawn looked like she was about to say something, but Chobin cut her off, turning back to the TV.

"This televison can be used to view some of Dr. Kaminko's greatest inventions," Chobin explained. "Perhaps a demonstration?" When none of us said anything, he continued. "Then let the VCR roll!"

"I thought that VCR's were outdated," I muttered. "I mean these guys have a shiny new fifty inch plasma screen TV hooked up to a decade old VCR."

On the screen, Chobin appeared, right up in the camera. His face took up easily half of the screen. _"Today, Chobin will be explaining the great Dr. Kaminko's invention, the Unhealthy Sandals!"_

"Oh hell," Dawn cursed under her breath.

_"The sole is covered in lumps that fail to support your feet as you walk, resulting in a chronic worsening of your health." _The Chobin on TV gave a thumbs up. _"Chobin thinks it's brilliant."_

"That was rather intersting," I said, after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"Jovi is ready to go," Jovi announced, walking into the room from a side door. "Jovi will show you the way home."

David rolled his eyes, but followed his younger sister out the door. With a half-hearted wave to Chobin, Dawn and I followed a few feet behind them.

"What exactly happened back there?" Dawn asked, referring to when I had the flashback.

I release a deep breath. "My mind kept trying to throw that N guy together with the word plasma, as if they were connected. But, as it tried, I kept feeling hate at the sight of N."

"Okay...not sure on how to take that," Dawn said, focusing on the road ahead of us. David and Jovi were farther ahead of us, Jovi continuously ranting about something.

Currently, there was some feeling inside of me that I couldn't understand what it was. I looked over at Dawn, right into her eyes. I felt a mushy feeling down in my stomach, and my heart race increased every so slightly. Ah great. I know that feeling from somewhere.

I think I had a crush on Dawn.

"What are you staring at?" Dawn asked, still staring at me.

"You, what else would I be looking at?"

"Why?"

"It's nice to see a pretty face looking back at you."

Dawn instantly looked away from me, and I saw her blushing slightly. She giggled, trying to shrugg it off. But the reponse had some effect on her, whether it was positive or negative, I didn't know.

Meanwhile, in my mind. _What the fuck, dude? Did you really say that? You did, didn't you. Great, you just embarrassed yourself by flirting with the Sinnoh League Champion! _I let the thoughts stream through, letting my mind cuss me out a little bit longer. Although after a minute, I got curious as to why my mind refer to me with 'you' instead of 'I.' Maybe it was just my messed up mind.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," Dawn replied, looking down at the ground as she walked.

"You're, um, welcome," I answered, also looking at the ground.

After a several minutes of awkward silence later, we had reached the lab, and Lily was standing at the top of the stone stairs, waiting for us.

"Jovi, I'm glad your home," she said, stooping down to hug her daughter. "Thanks for getting her, you three."

"Ah, it was nothing," David replied. "We had a nice campout and stuff."

"Then big brother and his friends got lost, and Jovi helped them find their way home," Jovi smiled. "If Jovi hadn't helped them, they would be crying right now, not know how to get home."

Lily rolled her eyes, but with a smile. "Thank you Jovi." She looked up at the three of us. "David, Professer Krane wants to see you. Dawn, there are two new simulation Trainers that Krane wants you to meet with."

"Ten-Four," Dawn said, heading for the elevator without so much as a goodbye to the either of us.

"What's up with Dawn?" David asked. "She's acting different."

"Long story, even though there's less than a hundred words in it," I answered, trying to put on an innocent look.

"Whatev," David siad, walking off to find Krane.

Lily glanced at me. "As you might know, Professer Krane sent out a few aides to see if they could find any of you belongings. They didn't return empty handed."

My eyes lit up. "What did they find?"

Reaching into her pocket, Lily smiled as she removed four minitureized Pokeballs, and handed them to me. "These would be your Pokemon. One Servine, one Herdier, one Panpour, and one Darumaka."

I remembered the picture, the one with me and my Unovian Pokemon. I held up one Pokeball, noticing some scratching on the black band that ran around the ball. It simply read; Aqua.

"That must be the nickname," I mused as I ran to the elevator, stuffing my Pokeballs in my pocket. In all honesty, what had happened with Dawn and I earlier was a mistake. I thought she would take it as a compliment, and not...whatever she took it as.

It reached the top floor, and I saw Dawn watching a battle on a screen. I mustered up all the courage I had in me and walked over...and I suddenly realized that I was making this more dramatic than it had to be.

"I want to apologize for what I said earlier," I said. "I didn't know you would react the way you did. I only meant it as a compliment."

Dawn remained silent for a minute. "When I became the Champion, tons of guys all started doing stuff like that. Calling me pretty, and all that. I hated it. I ignored them. All of them never meant it. They just wanted to have me as their girlfriend, for my money and fame." Dawn looked down at the floor. "But when you said it, my first instinct was to be cautious, and then-"

I cut her off by laughing. "Do you know how stupid this sounds? I all I did was say that you were pretty, and here we are acting as if I insulted you."

Dawn nodded. "I guess we do sound stupid. I forgive you for that, and I want to apologize for acting like a shy schoolgirl with a crush."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Does that mean that you like me, and acted like a shy schoolgirl would have, or that you...forget it," I muttered, not even knowing where I was going with that one.

Dawn pointed to the screen. "Those are the two Trainers here," she explained. "I'm not quite sure why their here. Both are skilled Trainers, and I don't need to teach them like I did with David."

"Who are they?" I asked, watching as a Skarmory slammed into a Dragonair using Drill Peck. The Dragonair retailiated by launching a huge wave of water, using Surf.

"The guy is Skyler Merrickson, a fifteen year old from Sinnoh. The girl is Luna Lyrune. Also fifteen, but from Kanto," Dawn said. "They both put up a hell of a fight."

"Who's winning?"

"It's best two out of three, and the both have won one," Dawn answered. "This is the tiebreaker."

"I get winner," I remarked, watching as the Dragonair fired an Ice Beam at the Skarmory, who was preparing for another Drill Peck.

"That's fine with me," Dawn said. "Do you want me to provide you with some Pokemon? I think I can borrow some from the Lab's vault."

I shook my head. "No thanks, I'll use my own." I pulled all four Pokeballs from my pocket, watching as Dawn's eyes widened, just as mine had.

"Are those yours? From that picture?" she asked, taking one from my hand.

I nodded. "I was about to send them out. Maybe they know who I am." I tossed the Pokeballs in the air, and Dawn tossed the one she had. The four Pokemon popped out, and each had a different reaction.

Servine blinked a few times, looking around the room as he tried to remain calm. "Where am I?" he asked no one in particular. His voice sounded adolencent, with a British accent.

Herdier's reaction was similar, looking around as he took in his surroundings. "I don't know." His voice sounded gruff, and a little bit like a growl.

Panpour flipped out. "Why can't I remember anything? All of my life, gone! Take me now, Arceus!" He sank to his knees, before falling forward and landing flat on the ground. His voice sounded like some teenage surfer dude.

Darumaka was trembling. "I'm scared. My whole life is a blur," he said in his normal sounding voice. "Only one thing can make this better!"

"Oh hell," Panpour muttered, cover his ears.

"Getting laid!" Darumaka finished, throwing his fist into the air.

"Excuse me," I said, breaking up the...whatever you want to call it. "I can kinda tell from your conversation that you have amnesia as well." Dawn groaned in the background as she got the main idea of what my Pokemon were saying. "But do you know who I am?"

Servine nodded. "That's the one thing I remember. You're our Trainer, Trevor White." I sighed in relief. So my Pokemon also had amnesia. The plot thickens. It seemed as there were no traces of my past. Even my Pokemon didn't know much.

I reached into my pocket, and produced my Trainer Card. "Dawn, can you run the info on this while I talk to my Pokemon?"

"Sure," she replied, taking the card from my hand, and sitting at a computer.

I turned back to my Pokemon who were staring at me, waiting for something. "So...we all seem to have amnesia, at the same time..." Servine mused. I checked the etchings on the band of their Pokeballs, getting their nicknames.

Servine was Ivy, Herider was Bark, Panpour was Aqua, and Darumaka was Zen. It was nice you know, to see that old gang of mine reunited. Too bad I couldn't remember them that much.

Before my Pokemon and I could discuss the matter further, a scientist that worked at the lab ran up. "Miss Hikari, and that guy, did you hear the news?"

"No, what news?" Dawn asked, as she typed something into the computer.

"The SS Libra disappeared," the scientist explained. "It just vanished." A loud silence dominated the room, and the scientist left the room as quickly as he had came in.

I looked at Dawn, who had tears forming in her eyes. "You had a Pokemon on the SS Libra, the one you were gonna give to me."

Dawn nodded, typing more into the computer. "It was a Ryhorn. A very special Ryhorn."

I looked at her with a questioning look. She pulled out her phone, and flipped through several pictures until she reached the one she wanted. "That's me and Mud."

In the picture, Dawn was riding on the back of a Ryhorn, but instead of the normal gray color, this one was a mud brown. "A shiny Pokemon?"

Dawn nodded again, wiping her tears on the sleeve of her red jacket. "But Mud is tough, I know he'll be fine." She pressed a few more buttons on the computer, and the results came up.

"That's odd, there's no matches," Dawn said, wiping another tear away. "No matches for any Trevor White with this Trainer ID in the whole world."

"But...that can't be right," I said, returning my Pokemon to the Pokeballs. "What about Johanna White? Have you tried researching her?"

"I working on it," Dawn replied. "I knew a Johanna White when I grew up. She lived nearby in Twinleaf Town. She had three kids. Tyler White, Lucas White, and Ashlyn White."

"Lucas, as in the same on that Mespirit needed to help her?"

"The very same," Dawn nodded. "I never met Tyler, he went to Kanto to live with his dad when he was seven."

Suddenly, an ear piercing scream sounded off from the first floor.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, standing up and running for the elevator. Dawn ran after me, and we headed for the first floor to see David running out the front door, and the girl at the desk was standing up, completely in tears.

"What happened?" I asked, running up to her.

"They took the Professer!" She pointed out the window to some people dressed in white armor that looked like it came from a science fiction movie. Two were holding Krane by his arms, forcing him into a strange truck, while David sent out Eve.

"Come on," Dawn grabbed my arm and pulled me outside as the man David was facing sent out a Teddiursa.

"What the hell?" David exclaimed as we came to his side. A small glass lense slid out from something on his headband, and over on of his eyes.

"David!" Krane shouted as he managed to get out of the truck that he had been put in. The two men instantly began shoving him back into the truck. "The Aura Reader is responding to it! That's a Shadow Pokemon!"

Then one of the men hit Krane in the back of the head with a metal pipe he pulled from the truck, knocking him out.

David acted fast, reaching for an empty Pokeball, and throwing it at the Teddiursa. The tiny bear was engulfed by the red light, and pulled into the ball. It rocked back and forth across the ground, and Eve went close to it, while the man using it began to back away.

The ball clicked, and Eve swatted it over to David, while his opponent in the white shiny armor made a break for the truck, hopping into the open passenger side as the truck sped away.

"They just kiddnapped the Professer!" Dawn gasped in horror as the large crowd of people who had gathered around began to mumur amongst themselves.

I knew one thing. This had just gotten serious. So very serious.


	4. Chapter 4: Gateon Port

_Chapter Four: Gateon Port_

"It's okay, Jovi," Lily said, trying to comfort her daughter, who was in tears. It had been roughly three hours since it had happened.

"We're all a little bit shaken up by this," Adian, Krane's assistant said. "I've contacted the police, and told them what happened. They're keeping their eyes out for him."

Lily nodded, but her eyes were unfocused. "That's good."

Adian sighed and leaned against the wall. "We were so close to completing the Purify Chamber."

Snapping back into the world, Lily put her hand on her chin as she thought about it. "Perhaps we could finish it without Professor Krane," she said. "I'm sure that we can pull it off."

Adian shook his head. "We need Krane if we want to finish it. I mean, we could without him, but there's a chance that something could go wrong without Krane."

"We'll have to take that risk then," Lily replied. "That Teddiursa isn't the only Shadow Pokemon that they made, whoever made it."

Adian nodded. "I guess we have to try. But I'm not sure if it'll work right or not with the Professor."

"Then that's thatt," Lily said, determination strong in her voice. "I'm going to check and see if the data processing is going smoothly." She walked out of the room, heading for the elevator.

"So," I said. "Let me see if I got this straight. Shadow Pokemon are Pokemon that have had their hearts shut through artificial means, and that the Purify Chamber can fix that?"

"Sums it up," Adian nodded, turning to a moniter to check some really confusing diagrams. "Basically, we going to try to prevent a repeat of the incident five years ago."

"Wait, this has happened before?" Dawn asked. "What happened then?"

Adian looked over at her. "Well, there was someone that broke off from Team Snagem, who were stealing people's Pokemon with Snag Machines like David's," he guestured to the machine strapped to David's arm.

"Anyway, this guy met up with this girl who could see the aura's of Pokemon, and determine if they were Shadow Pokemon, and together, they were able to stop the whole thing, and beat Cipher and Team Snagem."

"Cipher and Team Snagem," I repeated. "Is it possible that they are behind the kidnapping?"

Adian nodded. "That's quite possible, but I wouldn't know for sure."

I shrugged and turned to leave, only to see that David had gone somewhere. The elevator came down, and he walked out and over to us, with Jovi next to him.

"We have a mission," he said. "We need to go to Gateon Port and pick up a part of the Purify Chamber." David looked down at Jovi. "Guess who's coming with us?"

"Oh yay," I muttered in complete sarcasm. "This is going to be great."

Dawn groaned, but quiet enought that only I heard it. "I'm fine with it as long as she rides with you."

"Oh," David said, in mock shock. "We're not walking?"

Dawn and I both shook our heads. "It's getting dark right now," I said. "If we leave now, we can get there in time to rent a room at the Pokemon Center."

Adian looked over, holding an empty black backpack. "Here," he said, handing it to me. "I figured you could use it, since both Dawn and David have one."

I took it, throwing one strap over my shoulder. "Thanks," I thanked, and the four of us headed outside, where there were two scooters, David's and another one, waiting for us.

"It looks like we have to double up," David noted.

"Apparently so," Dawn agreed. "I'm not riding with Jovi, that's all I'm saying."

David smile sheepishly. "Come on, she not actually that bad...most of the time."

Jovi shook her head. "That's okay, Dawn. Jovi was going to ride with big brother anyway." She ran over to David's scooter, and hopped on, and took the handlebars.

"Hey, I'm driving this time!" David shouted. "You crashed it last time."

Scrowling, Jovi scooted back, letting David take control. "Last one there pays for dinner!" He said, as he pressed down on the gas, launching to scooter forward.

Dawn hopped on the other one, turning it on and revving the motor. "Are you coming?" she asked, looking at me.

"Um...yeah," I answered, slowly sitting right behind her.

"You might want to hold on," she said.

"To what?"

Dawn facepalmed. "Really? Me, what else?"

I shrugged. "In that case," I wrapped my arms around her waist slowly and carefully, and Dawn floored the accelerator. We were soon flying down the forest road, and David's scooter became visble in the distance.

"Aren't we going a little fast not to have helmets on or something?" I asked over the roar of the small motor and the wind.

Dawn shook her head. "There's a really expensive resturant there, and I am not paying for it."

"Well, you can't make David pay for it if your brains are splattered on the ground."

"I fail to see your point," Dawn replied, obviously lying about that. She pressed on the gas even more, and we went even faster.

As we went over a hill, I saw the ocean in the distance, and a lighthouse standing tall in the air. "There it is!" Dawn shouted as we went down. It was a rather steep hill, and we were going extremely fast. Mark my words; if you are ever on a scooter going down hill at exessive speeds, you are stupid.

"Slow down!" I yelled as we passed David and Jovi, who were smart to slow down. "Seriously!"

"Relax," Dawn said. "I got this."

Now, for the record, anytime someone says "I got this," get the hell away from them. Because, they never really 'got it.'

The scooter hit a rock that was sticking out from the ground, and I was flung off. I didn't see what happened to Dawn, but I started rolling down the hill, sliding when I tried to stop myself. Fortunately, I stopped when I plowed into someone, taking them down with me.

"Sorry," I muttered a few seconds later, standing up and trying to regain my balance.

"It's okay." I looked over as the person stood up. Of all the people I could have rolled into, I ran into N. "I'm guessing that you were just rolling on by," he remarked, smiling. His gituar was on a strap over his shoulder.

"Very funny," I muttered, checking over myself for any injuries. Despite the long distance I went, I was relatively unharmed with a few scratches and brusies here and there. I looked up the hill, and David was waving for me to come up, and it seemed urgent. I started running back up the hill, feeling a slight pain in my leg.

"What happened?" N asked, following after me.

"We wrecked the scooter," I replied. "We were going to fast."

"Oh."

I reached where David was, panting from the uphill run. "She cut her leg really bad," David said. He was on his knees next to Dawn, pressing down on her wound with a rag. But even as hard as he tried, there was too much blood.

"Shit," I muttered. "Find something to wrap it up in." I couldn't find anything, so I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her leg, tying the sleeves together. Scarlet blood leaked on the ground as David and I lifted her up. Dawn was conscious, but seemed a little dazed.

"Can you walk?" I asked.

"My leg hurts..." Dawn answered, somewhat out of it.

"I'll go ahead to Gateon, and tell the Pokemon Center that your coming," N said as he started running down the hill.

David looked over at his sister, who was still in shock. "Jovi, take our scooter and meet us down there at the Center," he told her.

"Let's go," I said, throwing one of Dawn's arms around my shoulder, and David did the same with the other. It was about a 50 yard stretch to the port, and we went as fast as we could.

David glanced down at the wound. "Your jacket's not doing a good job," he announced. I looked down, and saw the blood leaking out of it.

"Go faster!" I shouted.

"Easier said than done!"

After another few seconds of stuggling to get down the hill, we reached the bottom, and walked into the port. N and Jovi were waving their arms at us from outside the Pokemon Center, and two nurses were with them.

"Bring her in here!" one of them shouted as we got to them. We dragged Dawn into a room off to the side of the interior of the Pokemon Center. In it was a cot, and various medical supplies on a counter nearby.

We laid Dawn on the cot, and the nurses set to work, removing my makeshift bandage, and tossing over to us, and I took it back. They began examining the gash. "She's lost a lot of blood," one nurse said.

"This might need more than we have here," the other noted.

"Call an ambulance," the first told the second. "I'll do what I can."

The second nurse ushered us out the door. "You'll have to leave for now," she told us. "She'll be fine, and you can visit her at the hospital later."

We were left in silence as we walked back out into the Gateon streets. The sun was setting far off in the distance, lighting up the sky and part of the sea with a warm orange glow. It was a beautiful sight, but I could care less, given the situation.

"You know," N said, staring at the sunset, "life shouldn't be measured by the amount of breaths we take, but by the amount of times life takes our breath away."

I nodded, still lost in my thoughts.

"Jovi and I are going to get some rooms in the Pokemon Center," David said, jerking his thumb back the building he had come from.

"Okay," I replied. "I'm going to sit here and think for a while." I sat on a bench, and put my head in my hands.

David and his sister entered the Pokemon Center, and N sat next to me. "So...how's your condition?" N asked.

"I don't know," I answered. "I see things sometimes, just blurred images and distorted sounds. But, right now, it's Dawn that's got me all confused. Everytime I look at her, I get some strange feelings."

N smiled. "Well, I think you might be in love."

I shook my head. "That's half of it." I realized that I had told some random guy I hadn't know for more than a day or two, but he didn't say anything else about it. "I sometimes get the feeling that I've know her before."

"You have," N replied. "That picture of the two of you would prove it." Sirens wailed in the distance, and gradually got closer and closer, until the ambulance came into sight. Two paramedics jumped out and pulled a stretcher with them as they went in the Pokemon Center. I looked away as they came out.

Thirty-three seconds later, I heard the doors on the ambulance slam shut, and then the vehicle drove off. I sighed as I looked up. "I really don't know how to say this, but the first time I met you," I told N, "I remember feelings. Feelings of hate and anger."

N nodded. "And any idea where those would have come from?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "But, does the word 'plasma' mean anything to you?"

"It does, but I really don't want to talk about it at the moment," he said, standing up. "I think'll turn in for the night."

I waved half-heartedly as he walked into the Pokemon Center, and David poked his head out. "Here's the key to your room," he said, tossing me a card. "It's room 120."

"Thanks," I muttered. David went back in, and I continued to sit there. Darkness had fallen over the port, and the nightlife was beginning. Some clubs had opened up, and I could hear the music in the distance.

"Hey, you're a Trainer, right?"

I looked over at the source of the voice, which was a teen boy, about my age. He had sandy blonde hair, with an orange a white striped shirt and gray jeans the same shade as mine. There was a large bird Pokemon behind him; a Staraptor.

"Who's asking?"

"I am Anthony Greene, one of the strongest Trainers in Sinnoh!" he announced, and his Staraptor behind him nodded in agreement.

"If you haven't noticed, this is Orre."

Anthony folded his arms. "Well, aren't we a smartass. I still challenge you to a battle."

I sighed and stood up, stuffing my bloody jacket into my new backpack. "What are your rules?"

"A simple one-on-one. First knocked out loses."

I reached for one of my Pokemon, picking one at random. "Choose yours," I said.

"Go, Floatzel!" A large weasal materialized from the red light, and stood ready to fight.

I tossed my Pokeball, revealing Ivy the Servine.

"A type advantage doesn't always mean that you'll win," Anthony said. "Floatzel use Ice Beam!" The giant weasal fired a beam of ice at Ivy.

"Ivy, dodge it and use Leaf Tornado!" I ordered. All of my battling experience seemed to come flooding back, with memories of what moves my Pokemon knew. Unfortunately, nothing of major importance came to mind.

Ivy whipped up a twister of leaves, and threw it at Floatzel.

"Blow the leaves away with Hydro Pump!" Anthony commanded his Pokemon. Floatzel fired a huge torrent of water at the leaves, scattering them. The water smacked into Ivy, but did no major damage.

"Ivy use Leech Seed!" Ivy launched small seeds that latched onto the Floatzel, and would drain his health and use it to restore Ivy's.

By now, a group of people had gathered around, and a few started making bets. Most were on the much larger and stronger Floatzel. They were about to lose their money.

Floatzel use Ice Fang!" The weasal ran at Ivy, fangs covering in glistening ice.

"Ivy, dodge and use Mega Drain!" Ivy jumped out of the way of the Ice Fang, but the Floatzel also managed to dodge the Mega Drain.

"Use Leaf Blade!" I ordered Ivy, and he bravely ran at the Floatzel, who was waiting patiently as his health was sapped by Leech Seed. Ivy jumped, and his tail glowed green as he prepared to bring it down on Floatzel.

"Now, use Ice Beam!" Floatzel fired his Ice Beam upward, striking Ivy in the tail. Ivy fell to the ground, and ran back over to me. He was weak, and barely able to stand.

"Hang in there, Ivy," I told him. "Use Mega Drain!" Ivy smiled weakly as green orbs of energy flew out of Floatzel, and into him restoring energy. Then the orbs got larger, and Floatzel doubled over in pain as Ivy regain his strength.

"Hey," I said to Ivy, "you learned Giga Drain!"

Ivy nodded. "I noticed that as well. One more time, and I should be fully recovered."

"Use Giga Drain again!" Ivy prepared to, but it was cut off by a beam of ice hitting it in the chest.

"Nice shot, Floatzel," Anthony praised his Pokemon. "Now finish it with another Ice Beam!"

Floatzel opened his mouth as wide as possible, and the frozen beam shot out, straight at Ivy. "Use Giga Drain!" I shouted, and Ivy complied. The large gree orbs flew out of Floazel and into Ivy, only a spilt second before the Ice Beam.

On impact, Ivy was launched backwards, barely able to stand now. He staggered around for a few seconds, before falling on his ass. Floatzel, on the other hand, didn't far that well. He had collasped, and had fainted. The Giga Drain must have been a critical hit.

"You did well, Ivy," I told my Servine.

"Th-thanks," he panted, obviously on the edge of passing out.

I held my hand out to Anthony. "Great battle."

Anthony scrowled as he returned his fallen Floatzel. But he smiled again and shook my hand. "Next time, we'll beat you. You can count on that." He left, heading for hotel on the other side of Gateon Port.

I turned and headed for the Pokemon Center, picking up Ivy as I went. "We don't we get you healed, and then get some sleep?"

"That's sounds great," he muttered, falling asleep in my arms.

* * *

Seven hours later...

"You know, some people are trying to sleep," I said, sitting up in my bed, looking at my Pokemon. Currently, Aqua and Zen were fighting over the TV remote. Bark was laying at the end of my bed, while Ivy choose to sleep in the fake potted plant next to the door. Aqua said he was fine sleeping in the bathtub, and Zen had the whole other bed to to himself.

Of course, those were the sleeping arangements for when the actually went to sleep.

"Guys," I continued, "it's three in the morning. I want to sleep. I'll make you a deal. If you get some sleep now, I'll keep you out of you balls tomorrow whenever possible. Deal?"

"Deal," they all said at once.

"And Zen? One perverted comment, and I'll cancel the deal."

"Damn."

The TV was turned off, and my Pokemon went to their respective sleeping spots. Ivy curled up around the base of the fake plant, while Bark remained at the end of my bed. Zen flopped down in the other, and Aqua jumped in the tub.

Silence. That was all there was. I flicked off the lamp next to my bed and lay back down to get some well needed sleep...and the phone rang.

"Son of a bitch," I muttered, answering the phone. "Hello?"

"_Hey Trevor_!" A cheery voice said on the other line._ "It's me, Dawn!"_

"Hi," I lamely replied. Hey, I was tired. "How are you feeling?"

I heard her giggle on the other end._ "I've been better, they had to give me nine stitches for the gash. And they were nice enough to give me some of that happy gas stuff before they did it."_

I rolled my eyes. "Please tell me you're not still high on that, are you?"

"_Nope. But I said some pretty embarassing things when I was. The doctor recorded the whole thing, and posted the video on the internet. Apparently he does that alot."_

"How'd you know where to call?" I asked, curious.

She laughed on the other end. _"Easy. I called the Pokemon Center and asked for what room you were in."_

"Hey," Zen said. "Tell her to shut up so we can sleep."

_"You're Darumaka just said hi to me, didn't it?" _

"Yeah, he did," I lied. "But are you sure that you're not still still high on that happy gas stuff? I thought dentist used it, not doctors."

_"Eh, what does it matter? The good thing is that I'll be able to rejoin you in the morning."_

"Seriously, tell her to shut the fuck up!" Zen shouted.

"Um...yeah, listen," I said. "I have to go, or Zen will rampage and destroy the city."

There was a pause. _"Um...yeah. Okay, bye!"_

I rested my head on the pillow, and sighed. "Finally, we can get some sleep."

Lo and behold, the universe used its power to piss me off again. Someone knocked at the door.

"I'm asleep," I said, loud enough for whoever it was to hear it. "Come back when I'm not."

"It's me, N," he said, "Please, this won't take long."

Groaning, I got up and opened the door. "What is it?"

He gave a forced smile. "I sorry if I woke you up, but I just needed to tell you that I'm leaving Orre, like right now."

"You didn't have to tell me," I said, rubbing my eyes. "You could've left another note."

"I know, but I thought you might want to meet someone. Can I come in?"

I nodded, and yawned, letting him in. He walked over to the balconey, and opened the door. We were on the fifth floor, which was the top level of this Pokemon Center. He held up a Pokeball and pressed the button, releasing the Pokemon outside of the balconey.

A large white dragon materialized, and it was quite similar to the one etched on N's gituar. "Trevor, meet Reshiram. Reshiram, meet Trevor."

"Hello," Reshiram said, in a feminine voice.

"Hi," I said lamely again. "I thought Legendaries didn't have genders." I was going off of my limited knowledge. I knew that Latios, Latias, Cresselia, and Heatran all had genders, but I'm sure they knew what I meant.

"We don't," Reshiram answered, this time in a deep masculine voice. "We can change our voices at will."

"Well, we have to be leaving," N said, nodding to Reshiram, who lower its head to allow N onto it's back. "We'll be back in Orre sometime in the near future," N told me. "Be sure to meet me when we are."

"Good-bye," I waved to them as they flew off into the night sky. I went back and climbing back into my bed. "Now we can sleep."

I was right, we did get some sleep, but I did have another dream.

_I was in a city, in front of a building. There was a sign next to it. 'Nacrene City Museum and Pokemon Gym. N was standing in front of me. _

_"Now I know what power I need," he said, walking away from me. "Reshiram! The legendary Pokemon that will awaken when it has accepted a hero. It's my turn to be that hero." He continued walking, and eventually walked out of sight. _

_There was a scene change, and I was walking along through a forest, with some girl next to me. She had violet hair tied back in a ponytail with a red ribbon, wearing a red tank top with shorts, and fingerless biker gloves._

_The more I looked at her, the less familiar she got._

_Once again, the scene faded, and I was in a port city, like Gateon. Execpt this one was empty, save for the large dragon Pokemon in front of me. It was gray, with six shadow tentacles with red spikes on the end. In front of it was a Darkrai, but something was off, it was different..._

* * *

I woke up to a knocking on my door. The clock read 12:32pm. I groaned as I got up to answer the door. "Who is it?"

"It's David," he answered. "I brought you lunch."

I let David in, an took the bag from his hands, opening it to see a hamburger wrapped up in silver tin foil. A box of fries sat next to it. "I'm going to eat in the hall," I whispered, careful not to wake up any of my Pokemon. "You can't eat around these guys," I explained, pointing each of my Pokemon.

"...Okay."

After I had finished eating, I went back into my room and started to pack...then I realized that I had nothing to pack. I grabbed my Pokeballs, and threw my backpack over my shoulder. "Let's get going!" I shouted to my Pokemon, waking them up. "We need to be on the road right now." They all were in a grumpy mood, save for Bark. He always seemed to be in a good mood.

"What do we have planned for today?" he asked, jumping off the bed.

"We're going to get the part for the Purify Chamber, and then we're heading back to the lab," I answered. "And from there, I don't know." We met David, Dawn, and Jovi in the lobby.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Dawn, relieved that she was okay.

"Like I said, I've been better."

David interrupted us by pointing through the glass double doors and across the port. "That's the place with the part. They also have the other scooter, since I took it there earlier this morning."

"Which was before you knew that was where we get that part from," Dawn said. "You could've killed two birds with one stone."

"I didn't know, okay?" David retorted. "Let it go."

"Jovi will lead the way," Jovi announced, running out the door and out into the streets. We all went after her, with Ivy and Aqua riding on Bark's back, and Zen running behind them.

Jovi turned around and called back to us. "It's this way! Come on!" When she turned to continue running, she ran right into some random guy and fell down. "Ow, Jovi fell down," she said, stating the quite obvious.

"You little runt!" the man snarled at her. "Do you know who I am?" Jovi shook her head, trembling in fear. "I am Zook! The most happening guy around! And you messed that up. And now you'll pay!" He tossed a Pokeball, releasing a Zangoose from it.

"It's a shadow Pokemon," David whispered when the Aura Reader responded to the Pokemon. He began to dig through his bag to find an empty Pokeball.

I decided to stand up to him. "Is that how you make yourself look tough? By scaring little girls?"

Zook turned to me. "Listen, kid, I don't want to have to hurt you, so if you could stay away."

"You're all talk, and no show," I shot back. "You can't do shit."

Zook stomped his foot on the ground. "I've had it with you, kid. I'm going to wring your neck."

"That's enough of that." A small elderly man walked up, flanked by two men, one with long blue hair, and the other with normal length red hair, the same shade as mine.

"Listen, old geezer, you don't need to be butting into other people's conversations," Zook spat at him.

The old man nodded. "True, but this 'conversation' has reached the points of threats," he said. "And I cannot tolerate that."

Zook folded his arms. "Well, I can. I'll crush you with my shadow Zangoose if you don't get out of here."

The old man looked up at the man with blue hair. "Ardos, take care of him, please."

"As you wish, Mr. Verich." Ardos walked over and pulled out a Pokeball and sent out an Alakazam. "Alakazam, use Psychic!"

The Alakazam raised it's spoon up, and unleashed a purple aura that formed around Zangoose, and engulfed, knocking it out.

"What!" Zook cried, seeing his prized Pokemon knocked out in a single hit. "That's not possible." he returned the fallen Zangoose and ran off.

The man called Ardos returned his Alakazam, and the three men walked off.

"Wait!" Jovi called after them. "Thank you, mister."

The small old man turned and looked back at her. "There is no need to thank me, young lady. I only did what had to be done. Nothing more." They walked off, to where I wouldn't know.

"Jovi?"

Jovi turned at the sound of her name, to see a girl about her age with red hair. "Oh, hi Emili!'

Emili smiled, and the two engaged in a conversation. I shrugged. "I'm going to get that part," i said, walking away, with only Dawn noticing. She followed.

For the first time, I saw the stitches in her legs. The gash looked worse than it had yesterday, which probably wasn't a good this. Dawn had to limp along. "I told you to slow down."

"Well, shut up," she spat back. "I didn't think we would wipeout."

"No one usually does."

Dawn nodded. "Just let it go."

We walked into the shop, and up to the counter. "We're here from the Pokemon Lab to get that part that was ordered," I told the man manning the counter.

"I see. Well, hang on." He went over to a wall safe and pushed in a code. "Your scooter is over there. Had to fix the tire and axel."

Dawn went to get the scooter, and I took the part. "Thanks...Perr," I said, reading the name on his nametag.

"Your welcome, and come again!"

I put the part in my bag, right next to the bloody jacket. My Pokemon had apparently stayed outside to play a game of tag. "Come on, guys," I called to them. "I'm going to have to put you back in you balls for the time being. This sentence was followed by Aqua and Zen cursing.

I returned the four of them to their balls, and clipped them to my belt. "I'm driving this time," I told Dawn, who rolled her eyes. David was ahead of us, already on his scooter and motioning for us to hurry up. Dawn climbed on the back as I took hold of the handlebars. "Let's roll."

Dawn wrapped her arms around me, and we were off, catching up to David and Jovi rather quickly. The ride to the Lab was much easier when you weren't going too fast.

"I knew you'd get it done." Lily smiled as I handed her the part. She turned to her son. "So, how is the Teddiursa. Is it ready to be purified yet?"

"Um...I don't think so," David answered. "And even if it was, the Purify Chamber isn't finished yet."

"It doesn't have to be," Lily said. "There's a relic in Agate Town that will purify Pokemon, if they are ready. I want you to go there, and purify that Teddiursa. I've already contacted Eugan and told him that you're on the way."

"Great," David muttered. "Can't I ever catch a break?"

"Oh, by the way, those two new sim Trainers, they wanted to see some of Orre while their here, so they're going with you," Lily told us, not giving us an option. "They're already waiting outside for you."

"Well then," I said, heading back for the door. "I'm still driving."


	5. Chapter 5: 24kt Pokemon

_Chapter Five: 24kt Pokemon_

"So, we have everything?" I asked, tossing a some revives into a pouch in my ba_ck_pack. Dawn and I were packing for the trip to Agate. My bag was being used for Pokemon supplies, revives, potions, Pokeballs, and all that.

Dawn read over her list, mumbling as she did. "Um...I think so," she replied after a few minutes. "The food bag is full. It should be more than enough to get us to Agate Town."

"Okay, then," I said, putting the backpack on the back of David's scooter and tying to down with the three sleeping bags there. "I'm ready to hit the road. You?"

She nodded. "We just have to wait on David and the other two."

We didn't have to wait long, as David soon walked out of the lab, with two other people in tow.

When they reached us, David did the introduction. "This is Skyler Merrickson." Skyler had steel blue hair with long bangs framing his face, though slicked back with wild spikes at the top. At the back, his hair reached to his mid-back. He had light brown skin, and golden eyes.

Skyler was wearing a short sleeved navy blue jacket, with a light blue stripe going along his shoulders to the ends of the sleeves. There was a Pokeball symbol on the left breast of the jacket. He also wore white pants.

"Hi," he said, holding out his hand to me and Dawn.

Dawn shook his hand. "I'm Dawn Hikari, although you might recognize me."

Skyler nodded. "Sinnoh Champion. I saw the match on TV." He held his hand out toward me.

"I'm Trevor White," I said, shaking his hand. "You probably don't recognize me." He shook his head.

"And this is Luna Lyrune," David guestured to the girl next to him. She had long, knee-length white hair, and neon green eyes, with rectangular framed glasses over them. Luna was wearing a purple T-shirt over her black and white striped long sleeved shirt, with the sleeves going to her elbows. She had on a gray skirt with dark grey leggings with a neon green strip on her knees, and purple and black combat boots. On her hands were black fingerless gloves.

"Hi," she waved, and I returned the wave.

"Okay, now that we've met," Dawn said. "This is how this will work. After about an hour of driving, we'll stop for dinner, which will be ramen noodles. Then we'll camp out for the rest of the night, and we'll be on the road in the morning." She pointed to the four scooters, two packed with a single sleeping bag each and some other supplies, and Davids, which held three sleeping bags and my backpack, stuffed to the brim.

"You each get one scooter," Dawn folded her arms and glared at me. "But someone won't let me drive one, so I have to ride on the back."

"Not my fault," I said. "You wrecked it last time." I pointed at the gash in her leg. "That's what happened last time you drove."

Dawn stuck her tounge out at me, before continuing. "Any questions before we shove off?"

Skyler and Luna shook their heads. "Then let's go," Dawn said. I got on the scooter, and she got on behind me, while David and the others got on theirs. A few seconds later, we were off, flying through the forest path at a safe speed.

We couldn't hear each other over the motors, so it was a rather boring trip. It seemed like forever, until we all slowed to a stop. "It's been about an hour," David explained. "We're stopping here for the night, I guess."

The area around us was a lush forest, with tall trees and one could hear the sound of a babbling brook nearby.

"Okay, then," Dawn said, taking charge. "Trevor go get rocks, and David go get some tree branches for the fire. We'll stay here and unpack the sleeping bags and food."

I sighed as I walked off into the woods, wondering why it was so hard to find rocks. Seriously, I looked for a while, kicking leaves aside, but I couldn't find any rocks. "What in the hell?" I muttered to myself, when I got an idea.

"Come on out, guys," I said, releasing my Pokemon from their Pokeballs. Ivy, Bark, Aqua and Zen stared up at me expectantly. "I need you help finding some rocks."

"Really?" Aqua asked. "Rocks? You can't find rocks, in the middle of forest?"

"You give it a try," I told him. He shrugged and started kicking leaves aside, and held up three rocks, each one decent enough of a size to be used to contain the fire. "...Okay then, never mind."

Within five minutes, we had gathered enough rocks, and head back to camp. Of course, I was the one carrying all the rocks. "Here's the rocks," I said, dumping them in front of Dawn, who had dug a small firepit with a small shovel that she had packed.

"Great," Dawn said. "Now help me make a ring around the pit with them." I began placing the rocks in a circle, while Dawn read the instructions on the back of the ramen noodle box.

"I thought you were going to help," I said, as I finished the circle. Dawn looked up and shrugged.

"Hey, I'm wounded," she lamely replied.

David returned a few seconds later, with an armfull of branches. Eve was at his side, carrying a few small twigs in her mouth. The shadow Teddiursa walked behind them, arms folded. She was obviously not in a good mood.

"You know your Pokemon seem kinda worked up," Luna told me, pointing. They were in the woods a few feet, examining something. Ivy ran over.

"Those morons think that the found gold," he said, shaking his head sadly.

"Gold?" I echoed, standing up. Ivy led me over to where they were gathered, and lo and behold, there was lump of gold on the ground. "Damn," I muttered reached down and touching it. It didn't feel like gold. "It's not gold," I said, breaking the bad news to them.

"Of course it is." Aqua went over, and tried to lift it up. "It's really heavy, it has to be gold." Then, the gold jumped up, and lashed out its arm, punching Aqua in the stomach, causing the water monkey to double over.

"I told you," I remarked, observing the Pokemon. It was a Geodude, but it was golden. A smile crept across my face. "Ivy use Leaf Tornado!" I shouted.

Ivy whipped up a tornado of green leaves, and slammed it into the Geodude. Since it was a Rock and Ground type, it didn't have a prayer. It collapsed to the ground, stringing together a long line of profanity.

I shoved my hand into the side pocket of my jeans, reaching for one of the three empty Pokeballs that I had woken up with on that day. "You'll never take me alive, you son of a bitch," Geodude muttered, trying to get up to no avail. From its voice, I guessed it was a female.

The rock was absorbed into the red light of my Pokeball, and the ball began to wiggle around on the ground. A few seconds later, the red light went off, signaling the capture of the Geodude.

"Awesome," I said, picking up the ball and placed it on my belt alongside my other Pokeballs. Aqua stumbled over, obviously majorly wounded from the punch. "Come on, let's get you both healed up."

We walked back to camp, to see Dawn, David, Skyler and Luna cooking hotdogs on sticks. "What happened to the ramen?" I asked, actually glad that we weren't eating that stuff.

David pointed at Dawn. "She dropped it in the fire."

"Which wouldn't have happened if you hadn't hit my arm!" Dawn spat back.

"Geez, chill out," I said, returning Bark, Ivy, and Aqua to their Pokeballs. Don't ask why I left Zen out. It will make sense in a minute. "So, where are the buns?" I asked, grabbing a hotdog and shoving it on a stick.

"We don't have any," Skyler replied. "I already asked."

Zen snickered. "No buns for your weiner." Yeah, I regretted keeping him out.

"Can it," I said. "Use Flamethrower on my hotdog," I ordered, holding the stick out to him. He unleashed flames upon the hotdog, and when he let down, it was perfectly cooked. "Thank you."

He nodded. "Anytime." I broke off a piece and handed it to him. We all ate in silence, and when we were done, we stared into the fire. Night had fallen, and the stars shone brightly above us.

"So..." Skyler said, looking around at us. "Why don't you tell us a little bit about each other, so we can get to know each other better."

"There's not much to tell about me," David said. "I have an annoying sister, Jovi, and I grew up at the Pokemon lab. My Pokemon are Eve and Ursla," he pointed to the Eevee and Teddiursa. "That's pretty much it."

I mentally cursed. I was kinda hoping that I could hide the fact that I had amnesia from these two, but that looks like it was out of the question.

"I already know enough about you, Dawn," Skyler said. "But did you bring any of your Pokemon with you?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I came alone."

"That's what she said," Zen said, laughing. I smacked him. "Seriously, that is what she said." I smacked him again. "Screw you."

Skyler turned to me. "How about you, Trevor? What's your story?"

I saw Dawn tense up slightly, remembering that I can't remember. Before I could say anything, she spoke up for me. "He's a special case," Dawn said. "He...well...he has amnesia."

"I could've told them myself," I muttered. I could feel both Skyler's and Luna's eyes on me.

"Well...if you ever need any help, let me know," Skyler said. "What are your Pokemon?"

I smiled. "They're kinda special," I said, looking down at Zen. "This one here is quite perverted. Bark, my Herdier, is kinda nice and easy going and loyal. Ivy, my Servine, is slightly stuck up, but he fights like a boss. And my Panpour, Aqua, I don't even know how to describe him." I took out my new Geodude's Pokeball, and held it up.

"I just caught Gold ten minutes ago, so I don't really know her all that well," I admitted, releasing her from her ball. She sat on the ground, folding her arms and looking away.

There was a silence as they stared at her."Dude, that Geodude is awesome!" Skyler shouted after a minute. "Where did you catch that?"

I jerked my thumb back at the woods. "Over there, my Pokemon thought that they had found gold."

"I do not like this attention," Gold said. "I want back in my motherfucking ball." Geez, what was her problem.

I decided to keep her out for now, just because she needed to get used to being around other people.

Luna looked up at us. "Well...I was born Kanto, where I got my first Pokemon, Gremlin," she waved her hand at the Sableye that was sitting on her scooter nearby. "Professor Oak was going to us him for research, but he gave him to me. And since then I've been wandering around, training my Pokemon."

She reached for her Pokeballs, and released all of her Pokemon. There was a Nidoking, Dragonair, Togekiss, Lombre, and Emolga. "This is Luka," she pointed Nidoking. "This is Sammy," she pointed to Dragonair. "This is Gepi," she pointed to Togekiss. "This is Wallie," she pointed to Lombre."And this is Magnus," she pointed to Emolga.

"I guess it's my turn," Skyler said, reaching for his Pokeballs. "I grew up in Sinnoh, in Alamos Town. I'm good at playing music, and I would play something for you, if I hadn't left my situar at the lab. But anyway," he tossed his Pokeballs. There was a Skarmory, another Sableye, a Beedrill, and a Magnemite. "Skarmory is Xaldin, my Sableye is Renegade, Beedrill is Sniper, and Magnemite is Magnet."

I looked back and forth between the Gremlin, Luna's Sableye, and Renegade, Skyler's Sableye. "So we have two Sableye," I pointed out. "They'll probably get alond pretty well."

Dawn checked the clock on her phone. "It's 9:43," she announced. "We should hit the sack so we can start early tomorrow."

Within the next five minutes we all had our sleeping bags out, and crawled in them. Dawn was sleeping a foot away from me, while everyone else was on the other side of the fire. Gold was still sitting there, looking excessively angry.

"Hey," I said, drawing her attention. "If you don't want to stay here, just say so. You can leave." She didn't move. "If I wake up in the morning, and you've left, I'm fine with it. I don't want you to be unhappy."

Zen was curled up asleep by the smoldering ashes of the fire. I was going to return him to his ball, but I just let him sleep.

I closed my eyes, and soon I drifted off to sleep.

**Later that night...**

Gold was pacing back and forth, trying to decide. Maybe a journey was what she need. To travel around, and see the world. And that trainer could provider her with protection, in case those morons in white armor came and tried to turn her into a shadow Pokemon.

But, in the end, she began to head away from the campsite, leaving that behind her. She could take care of herself.

"Hey, where are ya goin'?"

Gold sighed. It was that Darumaka. "What do you want?"

Zen shrugged. "I just wanted to know why you don't want to stay."

"Because...I don't know. I just want my freedom," she replied. "I don't want to be cooped up in that ball all the time."

"Don't worry," Zen said. "Trevor usually will let you out if ask. In case you haven't noticed, he can understand us for unknown reasons."

"Why hasn't he told you how?" Gold asked. "I mean if other trainers could understand their Pokemon, then the world would be a much better place."

Zen gave a half-hearted smiled. "Well, he hasn't told us how he understand us because...he kinda has amnesia and doesn't remember."

That caught Gold's attention. "He can't remember who he is?"

"Yep. And all of us, me Bark, Aqua, and Ivy all have amnesia too," Zen explained. "So right now we think it's not really coincidence. Personally, I think Trevor pissed off Arceus."

Gold smiled. "You know, I kinda felt like I knew Trevor the moment I saw him. He felt like an old friend. Is he nice to you?"

"Yeah, execpt when I do something perverted," Zen replied, smiling. "But what he doesn't know how often I can get away with something like that."

Rolling her eyes, Gold asked; "What exactly do you do?"

Zen shrugged. "It varies. But tonight, I'm going to do something big. No pun intented." He glanced back over at the sleeping trainers. "So, you staying? I hope you do, since you'd be the only chick in our team."

"Um...when you put it that way, it's creepy," Gold said. "But still, I think I'll stay."

Zen's smiled widened. "That's awesome! But, now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Zen ran off.

Gold smiled and folded her arms. "He's right," she muttered to herself. "It's not a coincidence. I had amnesia, and then I get caught by a trainer who, with his four Pokemon, all have amnesia. Something big is going on here."

Zen zipped back over, a smartphone in his hands. "Did you say you needed something big?"

Gold fired a rock at him, sending him running.


	6. Chapter 6: Gone Forever

_Chapter Six: Gone Forever_

The black Charizard paced back and forth, awaiting word from his scout. Humans would consider him a shiny Pokemon, but he wasn't. While shiny Charizards were also black, that was the only similarity. This one's eyes were blood red, and it's body was a pitch black, a much darker shade than a shiny Charizard's.

In front of him were his followers, the Pokemon he had chosen to use as his private fighters. They were an Aggron, a Garchomp, a Hydreigon, a Magmortar, and a Scizor. His scout, a Crobat was out on a recon job, and was due back any minute.

"Sorry I'm late, master," Icarr the Crobat replied as it flew into their cave. Everyone looked up as she landed. "But I did manage to locate the Geodude you want."

A smile appeared on the Charizard's face. "Exellent." He turned to the Aggron. "Jake, I want you to bring that Geodude to me. I will be the one to kill her."

Icarr spoke up. "From what I saw, she was captured by a human, and he probably won't let her go with out a fight."

The Charizard looked at Jake. The Aggron had been hatched by a human, and thus had a human name. Of course that Trainer had abandoned him shortly after. "Jake, I give you full permission to kill anyone, human or otherwise that gets in your way. Failure is not an option."

"I understand," Jake replied, and began toward the exit of the cave.

"Do you?" the Charizard said, stopping him in his tracks. "If we don't take out that Geodude soon, she could spell doom for all of us."

Jake the Aggron laughed. "That puny rock? She couldn't lay a hand on me."

The Charizard folded his arms. "If you fail, you might just get the chance to see what I'm talking about. She's much more than you're average pebble."

"I doubt that very highly," the Aggron said, once again turning to the exit. A beam made of pure dark energy struck him in the back, and sent him to the ground.

"Do not question anything I ever say again," the Charizard said. "Or I will kill you the next time."

* * *

I yawned, stretching as I stood up. Luckily, I hadn't had any strange dreams. I don't even know if I even had a dream last night.

Crawling out of my sleeping bag, I saw that I was the first one awake. I looked around, but I couldn't locate Zen. I sighed, figuring that he went off into the woods for some...personal recreation.

What I did see was something I hadn't expected. Gold was sleeping on the ground a few feet away, her hands tucked under her body. I smiled, glad to see that the shiny Geodude had decided to stay. Either that or she fell asleep before she planned to leave, and hadn't left yet.

Digging through the food bag, I produced three granola bars, one for me and each of my two Pokemon out of their Pokeballs. I plopped down on my sleeping bag and tore one of the bars open, devouring it in only a few seconds.

Everyone was still asleep, and Zen was still out of sight, so I just sat there and waited. And waited. And waited. When it became obvious that none of the other were going to wake up anytime soon, I set out into the woods, seeing if I could find Zen.

The forest was nice. Leaves were falling from trees, and the silence was lovely. No human cities out here to disturb the beautiful nature. But that still brought up one question. Where are all the wild Pokemon? Is Orre one of those reigons that wild Pokemon don't inhabit? I shrugged, and figured that I would ask David about it later.

Suddenly, something seemed familiar. Some long lost memory was trying to escape. I didn't focus on it, instead I continued to look at the surrounding forest, hoping that it would help in some way.

The scene was blurred, as was the others. But, I could still tell it was a forest. _It might be a little warm, _a voice said. I didn't see the source of the voice, but I knew it was none other than me.

_Does it matter? _Another voice asked. I didn't recognize this one, I could tell it was from a female, but nothing was coming into memory.

_Not really. I learned that you should be thankful for what you have before it's gone... _my voice said. I tried to just let my mind wander, and see if any more would come.

_It was the scene with the bridge again. The two figures leaning on the railing, looking out over the water. A large city loomed in the distance. At their feet, I saw some Pokemon, and by their outlines, I recognized one as a Herdier, and another as a Panpour. _

_The figures leaned in for the kiss, and the gunshot tore through the night scene. _I snapped out of it, feeling a burning sensation on my chest, just below my heart. As the pain receeded, I lifted up my shirt to see what had caused it.

On my chest, right where the pain was, there was a small circle of pink flesh, an obvious wound from something. Then it clicked and added together. I had been shot.

"Oh, hi," Zen said, walking out from behind a tree. "What brings you out here into this lovely forest?" c

"You," I answered. "Do I want to know what you were doing behind that tree?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Not really." Zen began walking back toward the camp. "Oh, sometime do you think you could teach me to read and write in human?"

"Why?"

He shrugged. "No reason in particular."

I knew he was lying. It was obvious. "Zen, do you remember anything from our past?" I asked. "There has to be a reason that all of us have no memories."

"You know," Zen said, turning around. "I don't really. But you shouldn't be focused on the past. What if you old life was a bad one, horribly messed up? And now, you're being given a second chance, having no memory of that life, getting to start fresh." He paused, letting it sink in. "If you just forget the past, and let it come slowly, it might be worth it."

I remained silent, letting the Darumaka continue.

"But, you shouldn't live for the past. The past is gone forever. What's happened happened. Nothing can change that now. Live for today. That's how I am," Zen said. "Who knows? I might die today. If I do, I can say that I've lived how I wanted to live, free from the chains of my past."

I nodded, knowing he was right. "You're right. I guess I should be thankful for a second chance, if that's what this is."

Zen had already made it back to camp, and was talking with Gold. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but from Gold's shocked expressions, I could guess that he was trying to do it with her. Just a guess.

I saw Dawn sit up in her sleeping bag, and look over to mine, seeing that I wasn't there. She looked around the camp, before spotting me in the woods. Standing up, she brushed the wrinkles in her white tank top out as she walked over to me.

"What are you doing out here?" Dawn asked, yawning and stretching.

I shrugged. "I went to look for Zen, since he wasn't nearby when I woke up, and I found behind that tree." I pointed to the tree, and Dawn started to walk over to it. I grabbed her arm and stopped her. "You don't really want to go over there."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to explain."

"Okay..."

* * *

Gold followed behind Zen as he led her to a place far from their trainer's camp. Apparently, he had something important to tell her. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have gone. But, since she had the type advantage, he couldn't try anything.

"Now, we're in a nice secluded spot," she said. "What's so damn important?"

Zen sighed. "And you promise not to tell Trevor?"

"Yes, I promise," Gold agreed. "Unless you try anything funny."

"A few minutes ago, he asked if I remembered anything about our past. I had to lie to him. To protect him," he explained. "What I remember defys logic beyond belief, meaning that this is a supernatural happening."

Gold scoffed. "Ghosts? Really? I don't think that they would have had a hand in this."

Zen shook his head. "It's much more than that. I remembered-"

"Hello puny rock," a deep, sinister voice said. "Now, if you'll come along quietly."

Zen and Gold looked up to see an Aggron towering above them. "I'm not going anywhere with you," Gold said, folding her rock arms.

"So be it," the Aggron replied. "I'll take you by force." Before either Zen or Gold could react, the Aggron lashed out with a Metal Claw, knocking Gold to the ground. She groaned in pain as the Aggron picked her up. "You didn't see a thing," he told Zen, and began walking away.

Before the Aggron got any farther, he felt something smash into his back, right where his master Charizard had struck him. He howled in pain as he fell to the ground.

Zen stood a few feet back, fist flaming. "I did see something," he spat. "I saw a big scary Aggron fall from a single Fire Punch of a Darumaka."

The Aggron stood up roaring like the devil, jumping into the air, and swinging its tail around to hit Zen. The Darumaka jumped over it, and unleashed a Flamethrower on the Aggron. The giant steel Pokemon dropped to its knees, burned from the attack.

"You're weak!" Zen shouted. "You act all big and tough, but you're nothing more than a tin can!"

The Aggron's rage reached its peak. "You're just like her!" he shouted. "That human bitch who abandoned me! I will show you!" He lashed out at Zen with a series of attacks, ranging from Metal Claw to Iron Tail.

Zen was able to dodge most of the attacks, mainly because he was small enough to manuver through them. When he got his opening, he took it. Another Fire Punch to the stomach. The Aggron skidded back a few inches, surprised by the small Pokemon's strength.

When Zen jumped up into the air for a Flamethrower to the face, Aggron made his move. He slashed at Zen with both claws. Screaming in pain, Zen fell to the ground, blood pouring out of the gashes on his small chest.

Jake the Aggron laughed as Zen squirmed on the ground. "Not so tough, am I?" he mocked. "Now where is that piece of shit rock?"

Without warning, Gold shot up from the ground using Dig, and collided with the Aggron, causing it quadruple damage. Jake fell backwards, knocked out. Apparently, he was weaker than he should have been.

"Oh fuck," Gold cursed as she saw Zen, bleeding out on the ground. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck...!" she cursed as she gathered him in her arms and made her way back to the camp as fast as she could.

* * *

"Should we wake them up?" I asked, pointing to the other members of the team, still sleeping soundly.

"Nah," Dawn replied. "Agate Town isn't that far away, anyway. It won't take us all day to get there."

"Yeah, but the fast we get there, the more time we can spend there," I argued.

Dawn shrugged. "We might have to spend a lot of time there anyway. David Teddiursa might not be ready to be purified yet."

"True," I admitted. "You have any idea where Zen and Gold went? They've been gone for almost an hour."

"Not really," Dawn said, sitting down on her sleeping bag. "Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine."

"...fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!" I looked over and saw Gold rushing back into the camp, with a knocked out and bleeding Zen in her arms.

"Oh shit," I cursed, running over to them. "What happened?" I took Zen and realized that he was bleeding heavily. "I have to get him some help now," I told Dawn stay here and let the others know where I am."

I jumped on a scooter, and Gold jumped on behind me, grabbing the sides of the scooter as we took off.

We were going almost as fast as Dawn had been as we flew into Agate Town. It was small, with houses on the hills, and one house at the top of the town with a giant tree growing above it.

I hopped off, letting the scooter fall to the ground, and ran as fast as I could while keeping Zen in my grasp, looking for the Pokemon Center. As expected, it was the building with the giant Pokeball on top. The automatice doors opened when I got near, and I ran up to the nurse.

"My Darumaka is hurt," I said in between breaths. "He needs help now."

The nurse took one look at it, and pressed a button on an intercom system. "I need Doctor Pierce here now!" she shouted into it, and seconds later, and man in a doctor's coat ran into the lobby.

The nurse pointed to Zen, who was still in my arms. The doctor ran over and guided me to the emergency room in the back. "Put him on the table," he ordered as he began to start up some machines. "Now, I know you're worried, but I'll need you to leave for now. I let you know when you can see him."

Reluctantly, I left the room and sat in a chair in the lobby, ignoring all the eyes that were on me and Gold. I knew they were staring at me because of the commotion that had happened, and they stared at Gold because it's rare to see a golden Geodude.

* * *

Minutes passed by. Then hours. I was standing at the edge of a ledge, watching for the rest of the group to come rolling in. The doctor had permitted me to see Zen, but I didn't. I didn't want to see him in pain, knowing that I failed to protect him from whatever had happened. I failed at being his trainer.

Gold came out beside me, she had gone in to see Zen. "How is he?" I asked, scared to hear the answer.

Gold remained silent, eyes closed. I could tell that she was holding back tears. That's when I knew. "He didn't make it," she weakly answered.

Just like that, he was gone. I forced the tears back, holding them off for as long as I could. It was hard, you know. Losing a Pokemon that you've come to think of as a person. My heart sank, and I almost broke down right then and there.

My mind was at a loss of what to think. Although, I remembered his words from earlier today. "_Who knows? I might die today. If I do, I can say that I've lived how I wanted to live, free from the chains of my past."_

The past is gone forever. Zen was now gone forever.


	7. Chapter 7: From Different Points of View

_Chapter Seven: From Different Points of View_

**-Dawn's Point of View-**

The trip to Agate Town was quiet, save for the whirring of the motors. I hold told Skyler, Luna and David what had happened to Zen, and where Trevor had gone.

We searched for an hour, trying to find what had caused it, and we found footprints. According to my Pokedex, the footprints matched up with an Aggron, which didn't make sense considering that Aggron aren't located in this area. Up in the caves, there are Arons and Lairons, so I'm sure that some Aggrons are wild in Orre. But not out here, in the forest.

Agate Town was quiet when we arrived, and there was no sign of Trevor here at all. My best guess was he was at the Pokemon Center. "He's probably all torn up right now," I told the other group members. "Just don't crowd around him all at once."

"Yeah," David agreed. "Maybe we should just let him have his space, and find Eagun so I can get Ursla purified."

I nodded. "Maybe I should talk to him alone, see how Zen is doing," I suggested.

David shrugged. "He seems to like you, so go right ahead. We'll let you know when the purification is about to begin." They walked off, and I looked around for the red haired trainer. I couldn't see him at all.

I walked through the town, but I never saw him. "This is great," I muttered. "How can I lose someone in this small town?"

There was one old man pitting his Poochyena against the another old man's Bidoof. "Excuse me," I said, walking up to them. "Have you seen this guy, about my age, red hair, and he had a gold Geodude next to him, maybe?"

They both started stroking their chins in thought. "Gee, I don't recall seeing someone like that. Do you Frank?"

"Nope. I don't either John," Frank replied. "Oh wait. What about that kid we saw pass by here a little while ago?"

"He did have red hair," said John.

"And he did have a shiny Geodude with him," said Frank.

"Where is he?" I asked, desperate to get away from these guys.

Frank pointed to the edge of town, where I saw a figure sitting with his legs dangling off the edge of a cliff. It wasn't a very high cliff, though. "Thanks." I ran over, and sure enough, it was Trevor.

"Hey." I sat down a few inches from him, in case he still needed some space. He had his Herdier sitting next to him, with his Panpour and Servine sitting next to Bark. Gold was a few feet behind him, a tramatized look on her face.

"Hm," he replied, scratching Bark behind his ears. Trevor's eyes were unfocused, and so were his Pokemon's.

I took a deep breath, working up the courage to ask the question. "How's Zen?"

He was quiet for a few seconds, before answering. "Have you ever lost someone you really cared about?"

"Yeah, once. But that was years ago," I said. "Why?" The second I asked, it clicked. "Oh...I'm sorry." I couldn't believe it. That Darumaka that stole my phone three times last night could no longer steal my phone. I hadn't personally known Zen all that well, but it was still a shocking blow.

He huffed. "Don't be. It wasn't you fault. I just failed to be a good trainer."

Bark looked up at him. "Herdi herd."

Trevor cracked a small smile. "I know. But I just can't help that feeling."

I could never get used to the fact the he understood Pokemon. All I heard were parts of their name, and yet he could understand them perfectly. "Where'd you learn to understand Pokemon?" I asked, trying to get off of the Zen topic.

He shrugged. "It just kinda happened. Then again, I really don't remember anything at all."

"You seem to be taking this pretty well," I said, picking at the ground.

Trevor shrugged, and nodded. "I guess I am. It's because of something he said to me eariler. He told me that if he were to die today, he'd be ready, and would have been happy with the way he lived his life."

"I hope he's right." I cracked my knuckles, trying to think of something else to say.

"I know, but the way he said it," Trevor continued. "It just seemed like he somehow knew that he was going to die. Somehow, he knew."

There was a few seconds of silence, niether of us even looking at each other. "For what it's worth," I said, breaking the silence,"I know how you feel."

He shook his head. "There's no possible way you can even begin to understand what I'm dealing with right now."

"Back in Sinnoh, when I was growing up," I began, and I noticed his eyes rolling, but ignored that. "I had a Abra that I loved to no ends. We would always play together, eat together, we did everything together. I planned to use him as a starter when I went out on my journey."

I paused, allowing him to say something if he wanted to. When he didn't, I went on.

"Then one day, I came home from school and Abby was gone. My mom said that he had ran away, but that was an obvious lie." I sighed, remembering my Abra. "Abby was an awesome dude, always there for me when I was down." I looked over to Trevor. "Trust me, I know how you feel."

"That's just the half of it," he muttered. "You don't have to put up with not knowing who you are, where your from, and all that. As of yet, we've only determined my name and age, and all of the info on my trainer card has no matches. It's like I don't even exsist or something."

"So maybe I don't know how you completely feel," I admitted. "I'll leave you alone now. Let me know if you need anything." Before I could stand up, he turned to me.

"Look at my face."

"What?"

"Do it, I'll explain in a minute."

I looked over his face, noting his green eyes, pale skin, and the few freckles here and there. His hair was a ginger red. "Okay, why did I do that?"

"Do you recognize my face from anywhere?" he asked. "Does it seem even the slightest bit familiar?"

After a few seconds of thinking, I shook my head. "I don't remember seeing you anywhere before."

Trevor sighed, and reached for his pocket, and producing his wallet. He took a picture out and handed it to me. "Then try and explain that."

I furrowed my brow as I looked at the picture. It was of me and him, in Veilstone City. I had my head on his shoulder, and he had his arm around me. We were both smiling like dorks. But, I had no recollection of this. "I don't remember this at all," I said. He looked at me, and the back at the ocean. I could see the exhasperated look on his face.

As I continued to look at the picture, my head began to hurt. At first, I just thought it was a headache from something, allergies or something. But the more I looked at the picture, the more my head hurt.

Suddenly, my vision went white, and I heard voices. _Those bastards!_ one voice shouted. _They stole my Pokedex and my Pokemon! _I recognized this voice as my own.

_Where did they go?_ It was a male voice this time. It sounded like Trevor's only a slighter higher pitch. _I'll get them back for you._

_They went that way..._The voices faded, and my vision returned. Trevor really hadn't noticed a thing, since he was still staring across the sea. My mind was screwed over, trying to process what it had seen. I remembered an event like that, although it was Lucas that had lost his Pokedex and Pokemon, and I had come to his rescue.

What the hell just happened?

* * *

**-David's Point of View-**

Agate Town...How would I describe it? Well, calm and quiet. Then there's a big ass tree growing above a house, which I'm pretty positive that's a fire hazard. And, of course, that's where we were heading.

"That's one messed up tree house," Skyler commented.

"It's really more of a root house," I said, knocking on the door.

"It's open," an eldery voice called from inside. The door slid open, revealing a rather modest interior. There was a staircase to a room above us right in front of the door, and an elderly woman was sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Um...we're looking for Eagun," I said, and the woman looked over at us.

"Ah, I'm Beluh, Eagun's wife," she explained. "He went running around getting things ready for you." She chuckled. "I've never see him move that fast since...oh three decades ago, when he was being chased by a Skorupi."

I nodded and smiled. "Where can we find him now? My Teddiursa might be ready to be purified."

Beluh shrugged. "He's running around here somewhere. I'm sure he'll be along in a moment."

An old man with long gray hair, a gray beard, wearing a blue robe thing ran into the house. "Everything is all set for our guests from the lab!" he announced.

"Told ya," Beluh said to us, winking. She guestured to us. "These would be them," she told her husband.

"Hi," I held my hand out to him. "I'm David, this is Skyler, and that is Luna," I said, pointing to them respectively.

"We're here with the shadow Teddiursa," Luna told Eagun. "How are we gonna purify it?"

"We'll use the Relic Stone," Eagun replied. "Just go through the cave near the Pokemon Center, and you'll find it. I'll be waiting there!" He ran off, leaving us just standing there, and Beluh shaking her head sadly and smiling.

A few minutes later, we stood outside of the cave to the Relic Stone. "You know, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure that Ursla isn't ready to be purified. I think we should battle her some more. Any challengers?"

Skyler raised his hand. "I'll take you on. I've been meaning to train Magnet some more."

"Then let's do it." We took up our positions in front of the Pokemon Center, so we could get some fast restoration after the battle. Standing a few yards apart, we released out Pokemon.

Magnet levitated spinning the magnets on its side around a few times, while awaiting its opponet. Ursla kinda stood there, not really seeming to care about the current battle.

"You can go first," I said. After all, the match was in my advantage.

"Magnet, use Lock On!" Skyler ordered, and the Magnemite locked onto Ursla.

"Ursla use Shadow Blitz!" She ran at Magnet, and a shadow aura covered her body as she jumped and smashed into the opponet. A few of the spectators gasped at the move, their minds flashing back to the events five years ago. I ingored them.

Skyler seemed completely unfazed by the shadow move. "Now use Discharge!" Magnet unleashed electrical energy, striking Ursla. She recoiled from the attack, and was able to stay upright.

"Use Shadow Blitz again!" I commanded, and the Teddiursa charged at the Magnemite, enamating a dark aura. Ursla slammed into Magnet, and it was obvious that it wasn't going to hold much longer.

"Hang in there, Magnet," Skyler said. "Use Sonicboom!" Magnet weakly fired soundwaves at Ursla, who took the damage and fell onto her back. After a few seconds, she managed to get back up.

"Shadow Blitz, one more time!" I ordered. Ursla began her charge.

"Magnet, use Sonicboom when its close enough!" The Magnemite waited until Ursla was in range, and launched more soudwaves. This time, the Teddiursa didn't get up.

I sighed. "I'm not sure if getting knocked out helps with the whole purification thing," I said, returning Ursla to her ball. "Perhaps we should take the fight to weaker trainers."

We walked into the Pokemon Center, and got Magnet and Ursla healed. "Is it ready to be purified?" Luna asked.

"I don't know," I answered. "Let's find out." We walked through the cave that led to the Relic Stone, seeing that Eagun was waiting there. It must have been hard on him, since he seemed so over estatic.

"Is the Teddiursa ready to be purified?" he asked as we approached.

"I was hoping you could anwser that," I replied, releasing Ursla from her ball. "Can you tell?"

He guestured to the stone pillar behind him. It was taller than me, by about a foot or two. Some sections were sticking out by a few inches. "This is the Relic Stone. Bring the Teddiursa up to it, and we'll see whether or not it's ready to be purified."

I crouched down and took hold of Ursla's hand, and slowly led her up to the Relic. it began to glow, and the carvings engraved into it were lit up in a green light. "Uh...does this mean that she's ready to be purified?"

"...no," Eagun answered. "If she were, the Relic Stone would have reacted and already purified her."

I groaned. "Then what do I have to do?"

Eagun shrugged. "Perhaps you should battle it some more. If you want, I'll battle you."

"Allright then," I said. "Let's do it!"

Smiling, Eagun took out a Pokeball, and released a Pikachu. "This is my beloved Pokemon, who has been with me since the very beginning of my career." Ursla and Pikachu stared at each other, preparing to fight.

"You take the first move," David offered.

Eagun nodded. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" The Pikachu's body crackled with electric energy and then it discharged it all at Ursla.

"Dodge it!" I ordered, and Ursla jumped, but was still struck by the bolts. She shrieked in pain, but stood up. "Use Shadow Blitz!" Engulfing herself in a shadowy aura, Ursla ran at Pikachu, and jumped.

"Pikachu, dodge it!" Eagun shouted. Pikachu darted to the left, but Ursla turned in mid air and collided with it anyway.

"Shadow moves can't be dodged and they don't miss," Luna explained to me.

"Wait, really? That's awesome! I'll be undefeatable!"

Eagun shook his head. "Shadow Pokemon don't get any stronger than when they are shadowified. So someone with a stronger Pokemon could still beat it," he said. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Buzzkill," I muttered. "Use Shadow Blitz again!" The Teddiursa charged at Pikachu, swinging her arms rapidly, shadowy aura burning around her. Pikachu flew backwards, hitting the ground hard. It managed to weakly stand up.

Ursla suddenly took damage from out of nowhere. She was knocked to the ground, clutching her stomach. "What?"

"Teddiursa has entered reverse mode," Eagun informed us. "Her emotions are jumbled up, and she now takes damage every few minutes."

I sighed. "This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Once more, the electric mouse charged up electricity in its red cheek pouches, and then fired at Ursla.

"Look out!" I shouted. "Shadow Blitz!" Ursla ran straight at Pikachu, with the black aura trailing her. She raised her claw, and with a battle cry of "Ursa!" she slashed Pikachu, dropping it to the ground. Pikachu was knocked out.

And then Ursla was struck with the reverse mode attack, knocking her flat on her ass. "You did awesome, Ursla," I said, reaching for her Pokeball so she'd stop getting hurt by this reverse mode..

Eagun raised his hand to stop me. "Don't recall her yet. She might be ready to be purified."

Sure enough, as she went near the Relic Stone, she was engulfed by her shadow aura, and green orbs circled around her. They went into her, and the shadowy aura disintegrated.

Sitting in front of me was a perfectly normal Teddiursa. Smiling, I crouched down and looked her in the eyes. "You're normal," I told her. "You're back to normal."

Ursla was looking around, noticing that she felt different. After a few seconds, she shrugged.

"Eve, come see your newly purified friend!" Eve stared at Ursla, and walked over carefully.

"Vee," Eve said.

"Ursa." And then, Ursla bitch slapped Eve. Growling with rage, Eve tackled Ursla, and they began to fight.

I shrugged. "On the bright side, she's purified. Back to normal." Ursla knocked Eve off of her, and slashed at her. "I'm sure that someday, they'll be great friends. Who's hungry? It's dinner time."

Eagun returned his Pikachu to its Pokeball. "There's a diner just a few minutes from here. They get alot of people going to and from Mt. Battle."

"That sounds good," Luna agreed. "Where exactly is it at?"

"Just follow the dirt path that forks toward Mt. Battle," Eagun said. "There's a sign pointing in the direction, so it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Okay, thanks," I said, and turned to leave.

"Before you leave," Eagun said, stopping us in our tracks,"Can I get your PDA number? That way we can keep in touch should the need arise."

Eagun handed me a pen, and a scrap of paper. "Here," I said, handing them back to him after writing down the number.

"Thank you." He stuffed the items into his pocket. "Tell Professor Krane that I said hello."

"Um, well about that," Skyler said. "He kinda got kiddnapped."

Eagun eyes widened. "Kidnapped? By who?"

"Some jerks in white armor that looks like they stole it out of some bad sci-fi movie," I answered. "We told the police, and they're investigating."

Eagun nodded, lost in thought. "This might be nothing, but Vander, at Mt. Battle, told me that he saw some people in the desert. He claims that they were up to no good, but he really doesn't know."

"Thanks, we'll check it out," I said. "But first we have to find our friends." We left the cave, and I pointed off into the distance, where a mountain jutted out of the ground. "That's Mt. Battle."

"That looks pretty far away," Skyler noted. "How long will it take us to get there?"

"Eh, three hours, give or take a few," I replied. "It's a lot closer than you would believe." We walked into the Pokemon Center, and I handed my balls to the nurse. Two minutes later, we're walking out the doors.

"Any idea where Trevor and Dawn would be?" I asked.

Luna pointed at two approaching figures. "That's them."

Dawn looked stressed, and slightly like she a something on her mind. Trevor, on the other hand, was staring at the ground as he walked, hands in his pockets, and looked like he had a lot on his mind.

"So...um," was all I said. I honestly didn't know what to say in this situation. "Well, our next destination is Mt. Battle, where we're gonna meet someone who might know where Krane was taken."

"That's good," Trevor said, looking up. "But we'll have to stay in Agate for at least another hour."

"Why?"

He jerked his head over toward the Pokemon Center, or rather at the small Pokemon cemetery next to it. "We're burying Zen in a few minutes."

* * *

The funeral wasn't very lavish, basically the five of us standing around Zen's grave. He had been put in, and we stood looking down into the hole where the coffin lay.

"We should each take a handful of dirt and say something we remember about Zen, and then toss the dirt in," Luna suggested.

I shrugged. "I didn't really know Zen that well, but why not? I'll go first." I reached down and grabbed a glob of dirt. "Well, Zen," I started, "we never really knew each other, so all I can really say is rest in peace." I dropped the dirt onto the coffin.

Luna grabbed some dirt. "Like him, I never really knew you. The only time that I ever saw you was back when we camped out before we got here. I guess you're in a better place right now." She tossed her handful of dirt into the hole.

Skyler went next. "Well, the first time I saw you, you lit up that hotdog with your Flamethrower. When I saw that, I knew you were going to be one awesome Darumaka. But, it had to end too soon."

Dawn dabbed the tears from her eyes as she went. "People think that death is the end. But what if it's really the beginning? What if this life is just the prologue to what is to come? Zen, where ever you really are, I wish you good luck at whatever you're doing."

Trevor smiled as he spoke. "All I have to say is that I'll miss you, and that it'll be very hard without you." His smirk grew wider. "I every time I say something that can be taken pervertedly, I'll think of you."

Everyone looked at him. "What?" he asked. "I kept it short and sweet just like he would've wanted it, and even tossed in a perverted joke for him?" We just shook our heads as we turned and left. He stayed behind for a few seconds, before nodding to some workers nearby holding shovels.

* * *

The ride to the diner was silent, just like the ride in to Agate Town. Trevor was letting Dawn drive, which amazed me. After their accident, I never thought he would let her touch the handlebars again.

Which brought up another question. Why they always ride with each other? I would be easy to get another scooter from the lab.

I was at the front of the five of us, and we reached the fork in the road. There was a rotting wooden sign with arrows pointing in either direction. Choosing the path that the sign said led to Mt. Battle, we soon reached the diner.

It was larger than I would've thought, for being out in the middle of nowhere, and yet is was quite pack. Fortuantely, we got a booth. Skyler, Luna and I sat on one side, while Dawn and Trevor sat on the other.

This was yet another grand clue that there was something going on between them.

"So," Skyler said, opening his menu. "What's Mt. Battle like?"

I shrugged. "Well, there are ten areas, with ten trainers in each of them, for a grand total of one hundred trainers. Basically, Mt. Battle is a place to train you Pokemon. If you beat all one hundred trainers in a single go, then you win some medal, and I've even heard of them giving away rare Pokemon from Johto."

"We should give it a try," Luna suggested, as the waitress came to take our order. We placed our order, and then Luna continued. "It'll be a great training experience for our Pokemon."

I thought about it. "We could, but all battles there are double battles, so we could team up," I said. "Although I recommend that we stick to Areas 1-3."

"Why?" Luna asked. "Won't they be weaker trainers?"

I nodded. "That's why. Eve and Ursla could use some strengthening up before we try to take on anything harder."

"I'm sure my Pokemon can handle it," she protested. "They're tough."

"Maybe so," Dawn said. "That's what I thought when I went to Mt. Battle a few weeks ago. I managed to get up to the 70's or somewhere around there, and I'm the Sinnoh League Champion."

"So?" Luna asked. "We can just get as far as we can, and then do it again. We'll get much stronger the more we try."

"I know," I said. "But we kinda have a crisis on our hands, with Krane being kidnapped and a shadow Pokemon outbreak."

The waitress brought our food, and we chowed down. We made casual coversation as we ate, talking about some of the rising trainers in the other reigons. But then, the big question came up.

"Who' paying?"

We all stared at Dawn.

"Hey, I'm paying for the hotel," she protested. "Not the food."

"What hotel?" Skyler asked.

"There's a five star hotel between here and Mt. Battle," she informed us. "I stayed there when I first came to Orre. I can get us the penthouse suite."

"Okay, she's not paying," I said. Then everyone looked at me. "Fine, I'll pay." I took some bills out of my pocket, and payed at the register. Night had fallen as we left, and it was time to catch some much needed sleep.

* * *

Zen hated all the white. Being dead sucks. All around him was white. He was in a giant white void. Sure, every now and then, another Pokemon joined him in the void, and so far he had tried to hit on every female that appeared, to no success.

Then, in front of him, appeared the one Pokemon all other Pokemon feared. And worshipped. Arceus.

For a full minute, Zen looked up at Arceus, and Arceus looked down at Zen. "S'up bro?" Zen asked, breaking the silence.

"You and I need to talk," he said. "Alone." With that, the white void vanished, and they reappeared in the middle of a forest.

"Hey, this is where that giant tin can slashed me," Zen noted. Arceus nodded, and all of a sudden, the battle replayed in front of him.

"Why did you battle this Aggron?" Arceus asked.

Zen shrugged. "He was trying to take my friend."

"One that you had met only hours before, and had branded you as a pervert?" Arceus said. "That Geodude wanted almost nothing to do with you, and you gave your life for her?"

"Eh, believe it or not, some of us are actually selfless, and willing to sacrfice ourselves for others," Zen answered, as he watched in third person as the Aggron slashed him across the chest, dealing a killing blow.

Arceus stared at him. "You willingly risked your life for someone who's life doens't matter?"

"Hey," Zen protested. "Her life isn't worthless. No one's life is worthless. Not mine, not hers, not some stupid Magikarp's. By the way, why'd you make Magikarps?"

"When I made them, it was for a prank," Arceus answered. "And how are the worthless Magikarp's lives not worthless?"

Zen had to think about that one. "Well, they're food. And I don't really get the prank."

"You had to have been there," Arceus said. "And you are right. No one's life is worthless. Especially not that Geodude's. She is far more important than one might think."

"Really?" Zen asked. "What's so special about her? Other than she's a shiny?"

Arceus told him, giving Zen all the details. The Darumaka's eyes bulged as he tried to process the information.

"You mean she's really...?"

"Yep. Any questions before I continue?"

"Yeah, why are you telling me this?"

Arceus smiled. "Because, I am going to give you a proposition that you can't refuse."


	8. Chapter 8: The Grim Reaper

_Chapter Eight: The Grim Reaper_

I was laying awake in the penthouse, which just so happened to have three bedrooms in it. I got one, and Dawn and Luna got the other two. David and Skyler were sleeping in the main room.

Bark was curled up at the edge of my bed, whilst Ivy was on the dresser, since there was no plant whatsoever in here. Aqua was in the bathtub, like usual. Gold was sitting on the balconey, staring out into the night sky.

Checking the clock, I saw that it was 2:32am. "Great," I muttered under my breath, standing up carefully so I wouldn't wake Bark.

"Can't sleep?" I asked Gold, joining her on the balconey. She looked up breifly, before returning her gaze to the stars.

"No," she replied, and we just looked up for what seemed like hours in silence, although it was only a few minutes.

"I was there, you know," Gold said after a while.

"Hm?"

Gold forced tears back. "I was there when Zen died. With his last words...he wanted me to tell you something."

"What?"

"He wanted me to tell you..." Gold was on the verge of tears, forcing them back as much as she could. "He wanted me to tell you that he remembered everything. All of it. Who you were, where you came from...what caused you to be like this."

I looked up at her. "What happened?"

She shook her head...well, her entire body, since she had no distinct head. "He didn't tell me," she replied. "He only told me that he could remember it all."

Mentally, I sighed. There was another pause.. "You miss him, don't you?"

She nodded.

"I do too," I said, trying to think of something that could cheer her up. "Before he died, he told me that the past was gone, and we couldn't change it, even I tried. He also said that if he were to die, he would've been happy with the way he had lived." I tried to smile, but it was too forced. "Somehow, I think he knew."

"He died protecting me," Gold said. "But you're right, he didn't even seem slightly surprised when that Aggron attacked."

This was new. "You were attacked by an Aggron?"

"Yeah," she said, tear escaping her eye and rolling down her body, which made me wonder if that hurt her, since she was quadruple weak to water. "It came out of nowhere, and wanted to take me somewhere."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "This hit us all pretty hard, but it's now in the past. Nothing we do now can change it. We'll need to learn to accept it."

Gold looked up at me, and then tucked her arms under her as she tried to sleep. "I hope you're right."

I nodded. "So do I." I stood up, and walked back to the room. "I'll see you in the morning."

"See you," Gold yawned.

I flopped down on the bed, falling asleep in a few seconds.

* * *

Morning soon came, with the sun shining overhead, and the bird Pokemon chirping. That made me curious, as I thought that there might not actually be any wild Pokemon in Orre.

Aqua and Ivy were already awake, and fighting over the TV remote. It was almost like old times. Almost, as in it was quite familiar.

"Stop arguing and we'll get some breakfast," I said, but they stuck their tounges out at me and continued wrestling over the remote. Bark watched from the edge of the bed, shaking his head sadly.

"Dawn already brought us breakfast," the Herdier said, nodding toward a bag sitting on the table. "She got you some, but Aqua and Ivy raided it before I could stop them."

Aqua and Ivy looked over at him. "Bullshit, we gave you some to keep you quiet," Aqua exclaimed, folding his arms.

Groaning, I walked out the door, heading into the main room. Luna and Skyler were finished packing to leave, while David was just starting. Dawn was in her room, so I had no idea what she was up to.

"So, when we leaving?" I asked, smoothing down the wrinkles in my black tee shirt. I had worn it to bed, while my jacket had been put into the washer to get the blood out. Like I said, all it would've taken was a cop to come around at a bad time.

"As soon as Dawn and David are ready," Skyler said. "That is, assuming you're ready."

I shrugged. "Eh, just toss some stuff into my bag," I said. "I'll be good to go."

Dawn walked out of her room, bag over her shoulder. The red bags under her eyes indicated that she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. "You okay?" I asked. "You look tired."

She shook her head. "Stayed up all night texting," she replied, forcing a smile.

"I'm ready," David said, throwing his backpack onto his back. "Mt. Battle awaits."

I went back to my room, and recalled all of my Pokemon back to their balls. Gold hadn't even waken up yet.

"If I'm not mistaken, Mt. Battle might actually be closed right now," David informed us. "But we should still be able to see Vander, though." He pressed the elevator call button as we reached it, and continued. "I think it might be their training season or something. It should be opened within a week or two."

"I hope so," Luna said. "I really wanted to battle there."

Dawn was combing down her long navy hair with her hand. "It's really not all it's cracked up to be," she said, reaching into her bag as the elevator doors opened. We walked in, and Skyler pressed the button for the lobby.

Pulling out a comb, Dawn began brushing her hair down normally. "All it is is a giant volcano that has a hundred trainers that increase in difficulty as you get higher. Just one hundred battles in a row, non-stop."

David nodded. "I'd prefer to go to Realgem Tower, but only peope who get passes can go there," he explained. "And I wasn't able to get one."

"How do you get one?" Skyler asked. "I think I might be able to get one."

David shook his head. "The registration period has already passed."

"Oh."

There was a ding as the elevator reached the bottom floor, and the doors opened, allowing us to leave. We walked through the lobby, and Dawn went over, to return the key. Several people were staring at us, but who could blame them? After all, we were a group of five fifteen year olds, looking worn out and tired, dispite that we had just gotton a good nights sleep. Maybe it was the Snag Machine on David's arm that threw them off. Ignoring the looks, we exited the hotel.

"It's rather hot out here," I commented, tugging at my jacket collar. "I don't remember ever being this hot before."

"Sinnoh's colder," Dawn said, as we walked over to the scooters. "Orre gets really hot in the mornings, and cools down as it gets later." David nodded, being the only native in our group.

"I'm gonna run back to the drink machine," Luna announced, pulling out a dollar. "Anyone want anything?"

I nodded, and reached for the sole dollar that I owed. "I'll take a root beer," I said, handing her the bill.

"I'll go with," Skyler said, and they walked back into the hotel. It was a nice morning, the surprising silence of the morning...

"Hey! Jerkface!" A rock hit David on the shoulder, and we all looked over to see the thrower. It was a guy, roughly seventeen, with brown hair, a green T-shirt, and jean shorts. "What's that on your arm?"

"Uh...why do you care?" David brushed the dirt from the rock off.

The guy smirked. "I know it's a Snag Machine," he said. "And as far as I know, they're illegal to own, which brings up the question. Why would you have one?"

David rolled his eyes. "Shadow Pokemon have popped up again," he said. "I'm just catching them to purify them."

The rude dude scoffed. "Yeah right. My sister's Skitty was taken by this guy with a Snag Machine years ago. Those things are designed to steal other people's Pokemon." A small crowd had gathered behind him, and nodded in response. "So either you destroy it right here and now, or I'll call the cops."

Shrugging, David went back to unhooking the scooters from the rack that we had tied them to. "Whatever."

So we have a guy who has this thing against Snag Machines, since his sister's Pokemon was stolen with one. Several people who remembered the first time Snag Machines were used were backing him up. Really, it couldn't get any worse, could it?

Wait for it...

Adian, Krane's lab assistant came running over from no where, lugging two cases. "I glad I caught up to you," he panted, somehow not noticing the crowd of people. "We thought that since there were more than just David, we brought you two more Snag Machines."

...there it is.

"So you're their supplier!" the teenager shouted. "You all should be arrested! We have no need for theives here!"

"Um...am I interrupting anything?" Adian asked, setting the cases down.

I nodded. "Not only did you interrupt, you just made it worse."

He sighed, and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I think I noticed that."

Then, as if it wasn't already bad enough, a police car pulled up, and two blue uniformed officers stepped out. "What is going on here?" one asked, walking over to us, eyes darting over the crowd.

"They're in possession of illegal property!" the teenager exclaimed as he pointed at us.

Slowly, the officer turned to us, and caught sight of the Snag Machine on David's arm. "You are aware that those are illegal, right?"

"Um..."

"What's in the cases?" the other officer asked, walking over.

"Um..."

Picking up one of them, the second officer undid the latches and opened the case to reveal another Snag Machine. "I assume that the other one contains the same?"

"Yeah, but-" Adian was about to protest, when the officer reached for his handcuffs and slapped them onto the navy haired aide.

"In that case," the first officer said, taking his own handcuffs and putting them on David, "we're placing the four of you under arrest for possession of illegal property." He removed the Snag Machine on David's arm and tucked it under his shoulder. "Let's go," he ordered, as his partner grabbed my arm with one hand, and Dawn's in the other.

We were in complete silence as this happened. Of course we knew there would be people out there against the whole Snag Machine idea, but we never would have figured that something like this would've happened.

* * *

Riding in a police car is one thing. Being cramped into the back with four other people, including another cop was something totally different. It was a quiet ride, after all, no one is really chatting after getting busted.

The one thing we needed to get out of this mess was Krane, and he had been conveinently kidnapped a few days back. That's when I realized the other thing. Luna and Skyler were out there, wondering where we were.

Discretely as possible, I slowly moved one of my Pokeballs, that had been shrunken down to the size of a ping-pong ball, and tightly wrapped my hands around it. In all honesty, I thought there was something off. The officers had locked the doors on the car, but they hadn't put handcuffs on Dawn and I, even though I had the window seat. Strange, right?

After about five minutes, we reached the station. It was drab, with stone gray stone walls, a recreation area out back, surrounded by a chain-link fence. There were a few prisoners there, each out fitted in an orange jumpsuit, shooting hoops with a worn down basketball net.

Even though the outside wasn't all that impressive, the enterior was much better. There were officers standing about, filling out reports or chatting around the water cooler. Glass walls separated the offices from the main lobby of the building, with the higher ranking police officers doing their work.

"Chief Laverty wants to talk with the kids," the first officer said, leading us to an office. The second officer led Adian away to some other place.

The Chief's office was rather luxurious, with a giant maple desk with a gaming comupter on it, and several taxidermy Pokemon; a Shelgon, a Ursaring, a Sawsbuck, and, most notable of all, an Arcainine, posed in a fierce positon. Not to forget about the Stantler head on the wall above the desk and the golden Magikarp on the adjacent wall, and a golden Noctowl sitting on a side table next to the door. On one wall was a rifle, sitting on a rack, and below it was a long list of the things Laverty had killed with it.

Chief Laverty was a rather heavy set man, wearing a tight fitting burgandy suit, and a tie with golden Charmanders. Ok, seriously, this guy has something for shiny golden Pokemon. He had slicked down black hair, and rather small nose. "Please, sit down," he said, waving his hands at the two empty chairs in front of his desk.

David instantly plopped down into one, and I let Dawn take the other, choosing to remain standing.

Laverty smiled. "Such a gentleman," he commented, and then tapped his finger on his desk. "Place your Trainer Cards here," Laverty ordered. "I'm just going to ask you some questions, that's all."

Reluctantly, David reached for his card, and plopped it down on the desk. Dawn and I shot each other a look, before she set hers next to David's. Mine was the one all three of us were worried about, even though David was staring off into space. With a sigh, I pulled it from my pocket, and set it with the others.

"Now place you Pokemon here," Laverty ordered again, tapping another part of the desk. David placed Eve's and Ursla's balls on the table, while I placed down the three that I had, still tightly clinging to the fourth.

David saw this, and smiled up at. I returned the smile, slowly putting the Pokeball in my pocket as Laverty typed into his computer.

"Miss Hikari, Sinnon League Champion," he said, adverting his eyes from the screen. "I find it surprising that you wouldn't have brought any Pokemon."

"Eh," Dawn shrugged.

"Not that it matters, anyway." Laverty picked up the stack of Trainer Cards, and flipped through them. "Trevor White and David West," he read, before taking one and inserting it into a slot on some machine.

"Anyway," Laverty said, looking up at us. "Can you tell my why you had three Snag Machines? Those are outlawed here."

David scratched his head. "Well, it turns out that the Shadow Pokemon are back," he explained, "and well, Professor Krane gave one to me so I could save them." Dawn and I both nodded, hoping to help in some way.

"I see," Laverty said, leaning back in his chair, stroking his chin. "And have you managed to 'save' any of these new Shadow Pokemon?"

David nodded. "Ursla," he pointed at her Pokeball, "was a Shadow Pokemon, and we purified her."

"But," Laverty butted in. "If she had been purified, then there is absolutely no way to tell the difference between a normal Teddiursa and a purified Teddiursa, right?"

David sighed, rolling his eyes as he nodded. Dawn remained silent, and simple looked out the glass walls of the officed, watching as people continued on with their daily lives. Was I the only one who caught that? How would he have known that Ursla was a Teddiursa?

"Wait," David suddenly snapped his fingers. "Eagun, in Agate Town, he saw the Shadow Pokemon, he can confirm that it was purified!"

Laverty smiled a slight bit. He reached over and pressed a button on his phone. "Sheila, can you get Eagun in Agate Town on the line for me?" There was a voice over the line, but I couldn't catch it. "Thank you."

"Now," the police chief said, turning back to his computer and pulling the card from the machine. "That all checks out." He handed the card back to Dawn, and took another and slotted it into the machine. "Have any of you ever had any assosiation, either yourself or someone you know, with Team Snagem?"

We all shook our heads.

"Any assosiation with Cipher?"

Another head shake.

Laverty scratched his chin. "Then it appears that you may actually be telling the truth. However, Professor Krane would be the only one to confirm that, and he's conviently kidnapped."

"Yeah..."

The police chief reached a chubby arm over and pulled the card out. "This checks out, Miss Hikari," he said, handing it back to her. He took the last card off his desk, my card, and placed it into the machine.

The phone on his desk beeped, and Eagun's voice suddenly filled up the room. "Hello? Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Eagun, this is Police Chief Laverty," he said, looking at us as he talked. "I have three teens here, claiming that they purifed a Teddiursa at the Relic Stone. Is this true?"

"Yep," Eagun replied, soundly cheery like usual. "I remember it like it was yesterday...oh wait, it was yesterday. His name was David, and he had a guy and a girl with him, although I don't remember their names. They're not in any trouble, are they? They seemed like nice kids."

"Don't worry Mr. Eagun, they are not in trouble, it's just that they were in possession of three Snag Machines, and we were making sure that they weren't up to anything illegal."

"Oh good," Eagun replied, relieved. "I'm glad that I could help."

Laverty looked up at his computer screen, and frowned. "Yes, well, thank you, good bye." He pressed a button on the phone, ending the call. "I guess I'll let you off the hook for now, but if start getting calls about stolen Pokemon, I know who to look for."

"Okay," David replied, as he and Dawn stood up. We took our Pokeballs back, and headed for the door.

"Trevor White," Laverty said, standing from his desk. "I'll need you to stay behind for a few minutes."

David and Dawn looked back at me, Dawn knowing why I had to stay. "Okay," I answered quietly. "Just wait for me," I told the other two.

They nodded and left, leaving me inside the room with the police chief. "I'm sure that you can explain why none of the information on you Trainer Card matched up."

"Um...well...there was this...and um..."

"I didn't think so," Laverty said as I stumbled for a response. "However, I know exactly why, and I will be willing to let you off the hook if you meet my master."

"Uh..."

Laverty walked over to his computer, and turned the screen so I could see it. His screen saver was a picture of him standing next to a dead Arcainine, with a rifle in his chubby hands. A few seconds later, a new window popped up, revealing a pitch black Charizard on it, with glowing red eyes.

"So, you're the pathetic human that I have been told of," the Charizard said. "It's been a while since we last met. A year, I believe."

"I don't remember you," I said dryly.

"Oh," the Charizard said, faking sympathy. "Are you still stuck with amnesia? Heh heh, that only makes it much better." He smiled, folding his arms. "I'll make a deal with you. You give me that Geodude you so lovingly refer to as Gold, or I'll send more of my agents out after you."

"More?"

The Charizard groaned as he face-palmed. "You lack the brains to understand that I was the one who sent the Aggron after that Geodude, don't you?"

"So, you're the reason my Darumaka is dead."

"Exactly," the black Charizard replied, with no remorse. "Give me that Geodude, and I won't have to kill anyone else."

I folded my arms and turned to the door. "No deal. And if a mere Darumaka could take out one of your agents, then I have no reason to fear you, what ever you are."

A smile spread across the black fire dragon's face. "Please, refer to me as the Grim Reaper, for that is whom I choose to be. However, you can't tell anyone of my exsistance, or I'll kill all of you myself."

"Well then, Grim Reaper, no deal." I stormed out the door, heading for Dawn and David.

"Hm..." The Charizard was lost in thought. "It appears that he honestly doesn't know the full truth about that Geodude." He looked over at Laverty. "I have no need for you anymore." With a wave of his hand, the police chief collapsed to the ground, clutching his throat as a shadowy aura tighten around his neck, squezzing the life out of him, until he was dead.

* * *

"So, where'd they go?" Skyler asked, looking around the area. "They couldn't have just vanished."

"Relax, they know how to reach us," Luna said. "If something came up, they'll call us."

They were stadning in the main lobby of Mt. Battle, and had come here in search of the rest of their group.

Luna's phone then rang. "Told you," she said, pulling it from her pocket. "Hello?"

_"Uh...yeah, it's me David," _the voice said over the line. Luna switched it to speakerphone. _"We didn't mean to ditch you, but we kinda got arrested."_

Luna nearly dropped her phone. "What? How?"

Skyler chuckled. "Really? We leave for two seconds, and you guys get arrested? That's awesome."

There was a pause. _"Sarcasm, right?" _David asked.

"Well, duh."

_"Where are you now? We'll meet you there."_

"We're at Mt. Battle, looking for you guys," Luna answered.

_"Okay then, go ahead and find Vander and find out what he knows,"_ David said. _"That way, when we meet up we'll already know where to go next."_

"No problem." Luna ended the call and shoved her phone back into her pocket. "Let's find this Vander, shall we?" She walked up to the receptionist, with Skyler behind her.

"I'm afraid that we're closed for training," said the woman behind the desk. "You'll have to come back later."

Skyler shook his head. "We're not here to train," he explained. "We're here to find Vander."

The receptions adjusted her glasses, looking over the two of them. "I see. Vander's somewhere in the first area, so I guess you can go talk to him. Just don't interrupt any training."

"Yes ma'am," Luna and Skyler replied at the same time. The door opened, allowing them access to Mt. Battle.

There was a metal walkway the led to a circular platform with a faded number 1 painted on it in red. Most of the paint was chipping, but the number was still clearly visible. There was a woman in a pink coat standing there, which made absolutely no sense, since this was a volcano.

"Challengers?" The woman asked as Luna and Skyler approached. "I honestly didn't think that we were open yet."

"You're not," Skyler told the woman. "We just here to see Vander."

"But," Luna cut in, "if you still want to battle, we'll take you on."

The woman shrugged. "Why not? I need to see if this practice has payed off." She tossed two Pokeballs, releasing a Wurmple and a Wingull.

Luna reached for her duskball, and released Gremlin. Skyler chose Magnet.

"Gremlin, use Shadow Ball on that Wurmple!" Luna ordered. Her Sableye complied, summoning a ball of shadows from it mouth and firing it at the Wurmple.

"Dodge it and use String Shot!" the woman ordered. "And Wingull, use Water Pulse on that Magnemite."

The Wurmple tried to jump out of the line of fire, but the shadow ball hit it anyway, sending it to the ground. It managed to get back up, and fired a stream of string around Gremlin. The Wingull fired a pulse of water from its mouth at Magnet.

"Use Sonicboom to block the attack!" Skyler ordered, and Magnet fired sound waves that dissipated the water. "Now use Discharge!"

Magnet unleashed an explosion of electric energy, striking every Pokemon in battle. Wurmple was already weak from the first attack, and was knocked out. Wingull, since it was quadruple weak, didn't really have a chance. It too lay smoking on the ground. Of course, Discharge hits all Pokemon in the fight, including teammates.

Gremlin endured the hit, but wasn't very happy, since it had been hit by a teammate and was unable to land a finishing blow. He folded his arms as he followed Luna to the next area.

"This time," Luna said to Skyler, "let me take them both on. You can watch."

Skyler shrugged. "Okay. No fun there, but okay." He waited as Luna ran onto the second platform.

There was a rider calmly chilling out in the second area. "Oh, hey," he greeted when he saw Luna running up. "I saw that battle from up here, and even though we're not offically open, I challenge you to an unoffical match!"

Luna smiled. "Just what I wanted to hear." She glanced down at her Sableye. "Get in there, Gremlin. He happily followed her orders, running onto the field.

"Go, Swabby!" The rider threw one of his two Pokeballs, unleashing a small bird with wings made out of what appeared to be cotton. "Use Ariel Ace!" The Swablu chirped as it flew up and dove down at Gremlin.

"Dodge it and use Dark Pulse!" Luna commanded, and Gremlin dove to the side, only to still be hit by the falling bird. A split-second later, Gremlin unleashed a pulse of darkness, pushing the Swablu back to its trainer.

"Ariel Ace, always hits," Luna muttered, face-palming. "Use Hypnosis!"

"Use Sing!"

Both Pokemon were hit by the other's attack, putting them both to sleep at the same time.

"Um...this is awkward," the rider said, watching his Swablu. "I guess we have to wait until they wake up."

"Um...yeah."

Suddenly, Gremlin jumped up, just waking up. "Use Dark Pulse!" The Sableye let loose another wave of the dark energy, striking the sleeping Swablu.

The Swablu's eyes jerked open, and it screeched in anger. "Use Ariel Ace again, Swabby!" The bird slammed into Gremlin again, fueled with rage. Gremlin was struggling to stand, and was staggering around near Luna's feet.

Then, the rider's Swablu began to glow white. It grew bigger as its wings got larger, and soon, in front of them was a Altaria. "Whoa!" the rider exlaimed, running over to examine his new Pokemon. "Swabby, you evolved!" He threw his arms around the giant bird, who pecked his head gentley and affectionately.

"Gremlin, I'm pulling you out for right now," Luna said, reaching for another Pokeball. "Go Sammy!" Her Dragonair appeared on the field. "Use Ice Beam!" Rearing back, Sammy let loose a beam of ice that impacted the Altaria's face. It dropped to the ground, knocked out from the quadruple damage.

"Aw, come on," the rider said, returning his fallen Pokemon. "She just evolved." He took out his other Pokeball, and unleashed the Corphish. "Use Ice Beam as well." The little Corphish launched its own stream of ice.

Luna returned Sammy to his ball. "I'll withdraw Sammy, and use Wallie." Her Lombre appeared on the field, causally sitting and waiting for his command. "Use Razor Leaf!"

Out of nowhere, Wallie summoned leaves and sent the flying at the Corphish. They impacted, causing signficant damage. "Now Corphy, use Ice Beam!" Once again, the Corphish sent a beam flying at his enemy.

Wallie took the hit, barely flinching. "Use Giga Drain!" Wallie glowed green as green orbs flew out of the Corphish and into him, restoring the Lombre's health.

Corphish was knocked out. "Aw, you're good," the rider complimented, as he recalled Corphy. "That was a good battle."

"Thanks," Luna replied, healing Gremlin with some of her supplies, and returning Wallie. "You weren't so bad yourself."

"Vander's in the next area, and I know you're looking for him," the rider said. "Keep in mind, next time, I'll be the winner."

Luna shook her head. "Don't bet on it." She and Skyler went up to the third area, and saw two people, one trainer, and this other guy with dark red hair and a gray uniform.

"Okay, so, I'll keep in mind what types go with what for double battles," said the trainer. "But, in a single battle, I have to switch out. It makes sense Vander." Obivously, if that trainer hadn't figured out that much yet, he was a moron.

"I'm glad that you finally understand, Boron," Vander said, turning to Luna and Skyler. "If you're challengers, we're closed," he told them. "You'll have to come back later."

"We're not challengers," Luna explained, for the third time that day. "We're here to talk to you, Vander."

Vander looked over to Boron, and back at them. "I'll tell you what," he said after a minute. "You battle Boron here, and I'll talk to you after that. Deal?"

Luna nodded. "I'll take him."

Boron reached for his first Pokemon. "Go, Doduo!" The two headed bird materialized. "Please don't get knocked out fast." Boron had a lot of self confidence. His name even ryhmed with moron.

Luna smiled, and reached for a Pokeball. "Go Magnus!" Her Emolga appeared, electric energy crackling around it's body. "Magnus use Thunderbolt!" Electric energy arched from Magnus' body, and struck the poor Doduo right in the heads.

Screeching, it fell to the ground, knocked out in a single hit.

"Critical hit," Vander declared. "Nice shot."

"Go Spoink!" Boron sent out a small pig-like Pokemon with a spring instead of legs, and a pearl on its head.

"Magnus, return," Luna ordered, recalling her Emolga. "Get in there, Gremlin!" The Sableye ran onto the field, ready to fight. "Shadow Ball!" Gremlin, eager to redeem himself, overcharged the shadowy ball, and launched it at the Spoink, hitting it in the face. Once again, a one hit KO.

"Another critical hit," Vander said. "Impressive. Boron, I think you'll need a little more practice." He turned back to Luna and Skyler. "Let's talk in the lobby, shall we?"

* * *

"Finally, we're here," I said, collasping at the stairs of the Mt. Battle entrance. "That only took a half-hour."

"Yeah," David agreed. "We really should have gone back for the scooters."

Dawn scoffed. "Ya think?"

"Oh, hey," Luna said as she exited the building, flanked by Skyler. "Did you guys really get arrested?"

I nodded. "It's a long story."

"You can tell us on the way back to the scooters," Skyler said. "Vander gave us the location of an old Cipher base. Said he saw some people hanging around there. Professor Krane might also be there."

Dawn, David and I groaned. "It's like ten minutes back to the hotel on foot," I whined. "We just walked a half-hour from jail!"

"Can't we ever catch a break?" Dawn asked, as we started back towards the hotel.

"Nope," David said. "We will never catch a break."


	9. Chapter 9: Separate Ways

_Chapter Nine: Separate Ways 1_

**_A/N: Not sure if I did so great on this chapter, but we'll be straying from the main storyline for the next chapter or so. Any way, feel free to review. Even if it's critism. I don't bite._**

The Grim Reaper, as he liked to call himself, was laying in his chamber of their cave, in the deepest part. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing slowly; fast asleep. In his head, he was dreaming of a time long lost.

_He and Audrey were sitting on the hillside. "You know," she said, brushing her brunette hair behind her ear. "A lot of people think that you're just some scary monster, but you're actually nice."_

_Remaining silent, he calmly stared at her, just watching her every movement. They had met over three weeks ago, with him being her first friend. Audrey was seventeen, and wasn't very popular at school, choosing to be apart from the others._

_All of this she had told him in the three weeks they had known each other. He was still in the form he had been years earlier, which was far more powerful than this Charizard form._

_Back on topic, Audrey sighed as she stared off at the port in the distance. "My parents were fighting again last night. Both were drunker than hell."_

_Feeling twinge of compassion in his stomach, he slowly put his hand on her shoulder, as he had seen several humans do in his lifetime. Knowning very little of human interaction, he was hoping it was the right thing to do..._

"Wake up, master!" Icarr shouted as she flew into the room. "We are ready to move toward Celebi's shrine."

Groaning, he stood up and streched his wings. "Well then, move out. I want you all there by the end of the day," he ordered. "And I want Celebi here within a week."

"Shouldn't be a problem," the Crobat replied. "But aren't you coming?"

He shook his head. "I have far more important things to attend to currently," the black Charizard replied. "Something has come up."

"I see," Icarr replied, turning to leave. "We won't fail you."

Before she could get very far, the Grim Reaper said; "Be careful."

Icarr froze in mid-flap, falling to the ground. He had never said anything like that to any of them in all the time she had been with them. "...um...sure?" She took off again, preparing to lead the expedition.

_Infernal emotions,_ the Charizard thought, struggling to repel the thoughts of his past and the other memories. He clutched his head, and slumped back to the floor. "I hate this," he muttered quietly.

* * *

"Who the hell places a spike strip out in the middle of nowhere?" David asked, looking at the scooters. The front tires were completely torn to shreds, courtesy of a row of spike stick out of the ground.

Dawn shrugged. "Gee, since we only about a hundred yards from a Cipher base," she pointed at the small building the distance, "You'd think that they'd have some form of security."

"Yeah," Luna replied, looking at the desert all around us. "Like anyone would happen to come out here for any other purpose than going to the base."

I shrugged. "Well, we'll have to walk. Again."

"It can't be all that bad," Dawn replied, as her phone rang in her pocket. She pulled it out, and we all stared at her while she checked it. "It's Mom," she said, sliding her finger across the touch screen to answer the call, and began talking.

"I didn't even think that we'd get reception all the way out here," he mused, turning toward the base. "When we get there, we'll split up into groups and see what we can find."

I shook my head. "Your the only one with a Snag Machine," I said. "We need to stay together in case we run into any more shadow Pokemon."

"You right," he agreed, after a few seconds. "I think we should call this raid off for a few days."

"Why?" Skyler asked, cracking his knuckles. "They might have Krane in there."

David pointed up at a camera on a tall pole. "One, they know we're here, and are probably dispatching troops to get us. Two, we need to find Adian and get the other two Snag Machines."

"And we conveinently ditched him back at that police station," I reminded him. "So he'll probably be mad at us, if he's even out of there."

David sighed. "Okay, we'll head back to Gateon Port to stock up on supplies, and see if we can locate Adian," he said, taking charge. "On foot, if we walk all night, we should reach there by morning, and we can crash in the Pokemon Center." He pointed off into the southwest. "Let's move."

Dawn ended the call on her phone, staring off into the distance, a disturbed look on her face. "What's up?" I asked, walking to her.

"He's coming to Orre," she said. "My dad. I never met him once, and he's coming to Orre."

"Hey that's a good thing, right?" Skyler asked, as we all started walking. "I mean it'd be great to see someone who you're related to that you've never met. Although that might be kinda awkward."

She nodded, still lost in her thoughts, as we walked in complete silence for nearly three hours.

The sun was beginning to set on Mt. Battle, and we were still several miles away from Gateon.

Dawn and I hung back from the other three, and I broke the silence. "Something's been bothering you," I said, "even before this deal with your dad and all. Something's been troubling you, hasn't it?"

She didn't answered, choosing to mumble something I couldn't hear.

"You can tell me."

"Hey!" David called back to us. "We're camping here!" He tossed his bag down on the ground, and began to dig through it for somthing. Luna and Skyler did the same thing. Dawn still hadn't answered my question, so I let it go.

Nothing really exciting happened after that, we ate dinner, and then fell asleep.

* * *

**-David's Point of View**-

I groaned as I woke up, fumbling for my PDA, which would show me the time. FInally finding it, I flipped the screen on, only to have my tired eyes blasted by the screen's light. I squeezed them shut, and read the time: 3:12am. Great.

Sitting up, I looked around the small camp, seeing the sleeping forms of Luna, Skyler, and Trevor all asleep in their sleeping bags we carried all the way from the scooters. "The lab'll be happy about that," I mumbled to myself, thinking of the wrecked scooters.

Naturally, it was dark, with the stars shining overhead, a mass of celestial bodies in the ocean of space. Trees surrounded us, whilst Mt. Battle loomed in the distance. I layed back down as I tried to get some sleep, only to hear a sigh.

Once again, I sat up, looking for the source of the sigh. Dawn was sitting, back against a tree, knees pulled to her chest, held in place with her arms. She had her face buried in her knees.

"Are you okay?" I asked, blinking a few times trying to rid myself of the tiredness.

Her head shot up, and I saw her face. Dawn looked excessively tired, as if she hadn't gotten sleep in a while. "I'm fine," she replied, closing her eyes, as she leaned her head back against the tree. "Go back to sleep."

"Why don't you get some sleep? You looking like you need it," I told her propping myself up on my arms. "You look seriously tired."

She shook her head. "I'm fine," she insisted.

I stretched, almost fully awake now. "Why don't you want to sleep?"

"Not tired."

"I doubt that."

Dawn remained quiet, and I thought she might have fallen asleep, when she pointed over at Trevor's sleeping form. "It's his fault."

Now this was interesting. Normally the two seemed like old friends. "What'd he do?" I asked, standing up and popping various joints in my body, careful not to wake up any of the others.

"Remember when you went to get your Teddiursa purified? I went and talked to him, and he showed me a picture," she explained, looking up. "It was of me and him together, seeming like complete friends. Only I don't remember that picture being taken."

"There's always photoshop," I said, reaching into the food bag, digging for whatever snack I could find.

"But that's when it all started," Dawn continued, glancing off into the distance. "Memories, flashbacks, all were different from the way I remember them. It was all my Sinnoh journey, but somehow rewritten with Trevor in it."

I looked up at her. "Um...that's wierd. Are you sure that you're not high, drunk or something like that?"

Dawn just glared at me. "You don't get it, do you?" she asked. "Some crazy bullshit is going on, messing up my head and making me crazy." Sighing again, she continued. "Now I'm just like he was, afraid to sleep because of this."

"You don't know that'll happen when you sleep," I said, trying to encourage her. "You really need to get some sleep. You'll be meeting you father for the first time tomorrow. You want to be your best.

"You're right." She put her head back in her knees. "I'm going to tough it out. I'll see what happens." A few seconds later, I knew she was asleep.

I cast another glance over to the sleeping form of Trevor. It really was something out of the ordinary. Some random teen coming out of no where with amnesia, having a picture of him and Dawn, who claimed the picture was never taken.

On a whim, I walked over to Trevor's bag, and began unzipping pockets, trying to find the picture in question. His wallet, the one that N had found, was in the smallest pocket out front, and sure enough, when I opened it, I found the photo stuck in the folds.

Smirking, I took it out, and looked it over. Just like Dawn had said, it was of him and her, and the were obviously close when the picture was taken. After a few minutes of looking at it, a thought popped into my head.

What if Trevor was just some creepy guy that always dreamed of having Dawn as a girlfriend, and edited the picture?

That thought was something I didn't want to think was true, but it would bug me until I found out the truth. I reached for Dawn's phone, which was sitting on her bag, and pulled up the search engine.

I typed in Trevor White, and hit the search button, waiting a few seconds until the results loaded. Like I said, out in the middle of no where, and somehow managed to get a good signal.

The top result shocked me. I opened the article and started reading.

* * *

**-Trevor's Point of View-**

I woke to the aroma of eggs and bacon cooking, and smiled. Breakfast was usually good, since David has some serious cooking skills. Sitting up, I saw that the rest of the group had already gotten up and was eating, but they glared at me as if I was some sort of mutant Poke-human or something.

"What?" I asked standing up, and walking over. "Did I do something to offend someone without knowing it?"

"You tell us," David said, shoving the last piece of bacon into his mouth.

"Uh...what?"

Dawn was staring at me, and it was kinda hard to miss the disgust. "Where were you born? What town, what reigon?"

I thought really hard, hoping to focus on something to answer it, but all that came back was a giant blank. "I don't remember. And I thought you already knew that."

David and Dawn shot each other a look, while Luna and Skyler shot each other a WTF look. "Maybe we did," David said, after a few seconds. "But maybe you're lying to us."

I furrowed my eyebrow, trying to make sense of this all. "Why would I lie about something like this? I wouldn't do that."

"The reasoning is simple," David continued. "You'd fake amnesia to get close to a certain Champion in the group. Perhaps you'd claim that she was you girlfriend as well."

I blink a few times. "This is a joke right? I have no idea what you're talking about."

David nodded to Dawn, and she stood up and handed me her phone. "Why don't you read this?"

I looked down at the article and began reading.

_Unova League Champion Nikki Maddison recently got a restraint order for a trainer named Trevor White, after the trainer allegedly made several claims about the Champion that weren't true, such as they were dating. Maddison claimed that White was a stalker, since he knew things about her that no one else other than herself would've known..._

"...great," I muttered. "What is this?"

"This," David said, snatching the phone from my hand, "is the smoking gun. You're faking amnesia to get close to Dawn, and, well, we want you out of here. Right now."

"What? I don't-"

"We want you out of the group," Dawn said, folding her arms. Luna and Skyler once again shot each other WTF looks. "Leave right now."


	10. Chapter 10: The Gateon Incident

_Chapter__ Ten: The Gateon Incident_

**Short chapter, I've been bogged down with homework and stuff.**

"So, yeah," Dialga said, looking down at Zen, and then over to Arceus. "That's what's going to happen."

Zen shook his head. "Seriously, there must be something that can stop this right. As a ghost, can't I intervene in some way?"

Arceus nodded. "You could, but nothing that you do now will ever prevent what is about to happen, and what's about to come is only a fraction of what is to come in the further future."

Resting his head in his hands, Zen sighed. Then, he asked another question, again concerning the events to come.

Blinking, Arceus nodded. "If you were to do that, I suppose it would work, to some extent," he mused. "But, that takes a lot of selflessness."

"Before I act on it," Zen continued, "remember what you said about shiny Pokemon? About how the are reincarnates of special dead people or other Pokemon? I once knew a shiny Sandile, and I wanted to know-"

"She was a human from Kanto, who saved the world from Team Rocket's exploits twice," Arceus answered, looking away. "Are you sure about what you're going to do?"

"I don't have to think twice," Zen replied, folding his arms.

"Once all is said and done, there will be no way to return," the Alpha Pokemon continued. "Only one of the two beings higher than I wil be able to bring you back, and they aren't really all that cooperative."

"Let's do this."

* * *

I stormed down the dirt path, hands shoved into my pockets. My Pokemon were walking by my side, with Aqua and Ivy riding on Bark's back, with Gold levitating along side of them.

"That certainly changes things," Aqua comment in his surfer dude voice.

"You don't say," I mumbled sarcastically. "My only friends in the world ditching me, and I have no where to go."

There was silence, and then Aqua spoke up again. "So then, where are we going?"

"Gateon Port," I replied, trying hard to hold back the anger inside of me. "We're gonna catch a boat to Hoenn, and see if we can't take the League Challenge there."

After being forced away from the group, I had made my way towards the port in hopes of leaving Orre for some place far more interesting.

"You really don't have any money," Bark reminded me, glancing up at me. "You'd have to get a job or something if you want to get a ticket."

I nodded and thought for a minute. "I could do a Pokemon translation service. I'm sure some people would pay quite a bit to hear what they're Pokemon think of them."

"Yeah, but then they'd want their money back if they didn't like their trainers, and cussed them out or something like that," Aqua cut in, pretty much ruining the moment.

Folding my arms, I sighed. "Seriously, life sucks."

"Ever since there was life," Aqua said, "someone's sucked the big one."

"That sounds like one of Zen's lines."

"Eh, someone has to do it."

The port loomed in the distance, still quite a distance away. "I think I've got an idea," I said, musing some things over in my head. "If we were to rescue Krane from those guys, then I'm sure that would have to count for something."

Gold shrugged. "Yeah, but for what? I think you should find this Nikki person and try to clear this mess up, and then see if your friends would forgive you."

"That might work," I agreed, "But we'd have to go to Unova, and there's no garantee that she'd believe me." That's when I made the connection. I remembered some girl named Maddison, and then there was Nikki Maddison, a Champion. Coincidence, maybe.

"And to get to Unova, you'd need money," Bark chimed in, once again reminding me that I was more broke than a lego that got stomped on by Groudon.

"Well, there's always that place that looks like a giant Krabby," Ivy said, calmly focusing on the sea in the distance. "Maybe you could get a job washing dishes."

I shook my head, trying to think. "That'd be a last resort. I don't ever think I'd stoop that low as to wash someone's dishes."

**Several Hours Later...**

"But, I would stoop as low as to be a waiter," I muttered to myself as I looked at the waiter outfit I was wearing. It was a black shirt and pants, with a black apron over it to hold the note pad and all that.

My new boss was Mr. Carnem, who was actually rather nice. He stood at about 6'4'', and was wearing the exact same uniform I was wearing, only larger to fit him. He was bald, and had a dark brown handlebar mustaushe. He was roughly fifty, and had caring blues eyes.

"Almost time for you first shift," he said in his rough tone, propping himself up on the bar with his elbows. "It's nothing to be really worried about, although it is kareoke night, which is usually our biggest night of the week."

"I guess that there's just something about watching random people sing that just drives people wild," I commented, adjusting the buttons on my shirt. While I really didn't like the job I had, it was better than what Aqua was doing. He, along with three Krabby were in the back cleaning the dishes.

I looked out into the resturant, and saw that several people had begun to stream in, each being seated by a waiter. "You're up," Carnem said, pointing at a table where a couple had sat. The guy actually looked familiar...

I grabbed my pen and pad and walked over. "What can I get you to drink?" I asked, as I poised my pen to write down their beverages.

"I'll have a Pepsi," the girl replied, not even looking up from her menu. She had shoulder length brown hair, green eyes, and bright red lipstick. By her leg, there was a Pikachu with several ribbons pinned to a collar on its neck.

"I'll get the same," the guy replied, looking up at me. "Hey, you're that guy that kicked my butt a while back."

Looking down, I saw that it was Anthony, the guy that had the Floatzel. "Oh, yeah. I remember you," I said. "What brings you here?"

"Food," he answered, reading from the menu. "I didn't know that you worked here."

I shrugged. "It's only temporary." I scribbled down what they ordered, and glanced up. "Just trying to get enough money to get me to Hoenn, or Unova, or maybe just stay here. I really haven't decided."

"Oh," the girl perked up. "I think it would be fun to go to Hoenn! I've always wanted to go there," she brushed the hair out of her eyes, and looked up at me. "Could we tag along?"

"Lucy," Anthony said calmly, "It's kinda rude to ask someone something like that when you barely even know the person."

"It's okay," I replied. "I wouldn't mind. But I have to work." I went back with their drink order, and soon had their drinks in hand. We didn't really talk much at that point, and slowly more people had streamed into the resturant, making my job more complicated.

Aqua got a small break, and came wandering out of the back. "Wow, big crowd," he commented, climbing up my back and standing on my shoulders.

"I noticed," I grunted, struggling to balance a tray of food in one hand. Halfway to the table, I spilled some of someone's soup on the floor, but fortunantely, they were quite passive and understanding.

"Ah, the plot thickens," the water monkey said, pointing at two newcomers.

"It can't be all that ba-son of a bitch." Dawn and David walked in, fortunately not seeing me. Now normally, that would be bad enough, but what made it worse was the fact that they were _holding hands._

"Can you get that couple?" Mr. Carnem asked, carrying a tray of food out from the kitchen.

"I'd rather not," I said, as I took Aqua off my back and letting him go reluctantly back to work in the kitchen. "Those people aren't really...they completely hate my guts."

Mr. Carnem nodded, and shrugged. "Well, no problem. I'll get them. Just take this to table eight," he said handing me the tray.

"Thanks," I said, taking the tray and scurrying off to the table. Shooting Dawn and David a quick glance, I saw that they were looking back at me and laughing. I scrowled, but forced a smile as I began placing the plates of food down on table eight, and quickly walking off. I had this wierd feeling, something I'm sure I felt before.

_That's jealously, most likely, _a voice said/thought in my head.

"Great," I mumbled. "Now I'm going insane."

Things went smoothly for the next few minutes, with David occasionally flipping me off. But nothing out of the ordinary happened. That is until...

Six men walked in, and nobody really noticed them, since people walked in every few minutes. They each wore large trench coats, with their hands tucked inside, holding objects from view.

I looked away to pick up a tray, when all hell broke loose. Explosions echoed all around, and there was a ton of screaming. My gaze shot up, in time to see people running around, heading for the exits.

The six men had pulled guns out, primarly a wide range of pistols, but one had an SMG. Panic kicking in, I ducked down behind a counter in the kitchen, reaching for one of the sharp knives used by the cooks. Aqua came running over, and I saw the fear in his eyes.

"We can get out the back," he said, pointing at the door. "It'll be safer that way."

I shook my head. "Some people are bound to be injured, so I'll do what I can to help them after the shooters leave," I whispered, as the gunfire died down. As fast as it had started, it was all over.

I risked a peek over the counter, just in time to see the shooters leave. I waited a few seconds, and I heard the sirens of the police and ambulances that were approaching the scene.

"Find those that are injured," I order Aqua, who ran off in one direction, and I ran off in the other. Several dead bodies lay around on the ground, blood pouring from their wounds. Others lay moaning on the ground, trying to stop their bleeding.

Paramedics rushed into the builing, carrying strechers between them. They set to work, find the wounded ones, and doing what they could. Three police officers walked in, and assumed that I was the only one around that wasn't hit, so they would interview me. As they walked over, I saw a sight that still haunts me to this day.

Dawn lay motionless on the ground, in a pool of her own blood.


	11. Chapter 11: Improving Relations

_Chapter Eleven: Improving Relations_

"So, um, can I go now?" I asked the officer, who was sitting at his overly messy desk, typing everything I said. I told him the full story from my point of view.

He grumbled something and took a swig of his piping hot coffee, and nodded. "Yeah, we got what we needed, now scram." He pointed to the door, not looking away from his computer.

"Well, great." I walked out the door and into Gateon Port, which was lively with action as police were going around, questioning everyone about last night's shooting. Officials had claimed it to be an assassination attempt on Dawn, most likely by the remains of Team Galactic, although that theory was full of holes.

People continued on with their daily lives in the port, as if nothing had happened. Those who had lost one of their loved ones were of course mourning them, but those who had been completely unaffected by it brushed it off.

I sighed, and began walking. To where, I really didn't know, all I was doing was walking in a direction. The next time you get a new open world video game, just pick a direction and walk. You'll be amazed at what you find.

In real life, it doesn't work like that. David was sitting on a bench head in his hands, looking out at the ocean. The bags under his eyes indicated that he probably hadn't slept well last night, and honesty, I understand that. I barely slept myself.

"How is she?" I asked, walking over to him.

He glanced up at me, and scrowled slightly. "Critical." Hey, at least he actually spoke to me. "She was hit six times."

My heart sank, and I felt complete sorrow. It felt...familiar. "I'm sorry," I said, rubbing my eyes. "If there's anything I can-"

"I'll let you know," he finished, staring out at the sea.

I nodded, slightly surprised that he was acting the way he was. I thought that he'd probably try to kill me or something.

"I was wrong about you," David said, after a minute. "I just got all fed up in...I don't know how to put it..."

_Jealousy, _said a voice in my head.

"...you were jealous?" I offered, hoping that the voice wasn't lying to me.

"Yeah," David admitted, sighing. "Ever since Dawn came from Sinnoh to help at our lab, I've had a crush on her. Whenever I'm with her, I fell like I'm the happiest person in the world. Maybe you would know what I mean?"

"Yeah," I said, lost in thoughts. "Maybe I would." In truth, I knew exactly how he felt. I felt the exact same way when I was around Dawn. This was about to get crazy.

David contiuned. "I couldn't tell anyone, I was too shy. You were always with her, and all that, and when the chance came up to make you look like some sort of creep, I took it, not thinking. And then she said that she wanted you out of the group, and I went along." He stood up and held his hand out to me. "I apologize for all of that, and I'll clear it up with Dawn when she gets better."

_If she does, _the voice thought. "Apology accepted," I replied shaking his hand, sorta understanding what he was saying. I think I liked Dawn too. "So, where's Luna and Skyler?"

Shrugging, David pointed out to the forest just beyond the port city. "Last I saw them, they were training together. They were in there pretty deep, so they might not have heard the sirens. I don't think either of them are coming out soon, and you can probably join them."

Zen would have had a field day with those sentences. "Kay, thanks," I said, running off to find them. The forest was thick with underbrush and several assorted spiky plants, so navigating through there wasn't the easiest thing to do.

Finally, after cutting my arms and legs countless times, I made it through into the not so spiky part of the forest. Trees stood tall, branches swaying in the wind. Other than the sound of rustling leaves, there was nothing but silence.

"It's peaceful," I commented, taking a few steps forward, and then I found myself dangling upside down. Apparently, some idiot had left their snare out, hoping to catch a wild Pokemon in it, and completely forgot about it.

My bag slid off my shoulders and hit the ground, along with all four of my Pokeballs. "Oh, that's just great," I muttered, trying to reach up to get at the knot. Since I'm not in the best physical shape, I horribly failed.

I dropped back down to my original position, cursing. "This is perfect." I felt my blood rushing to my head, and groaned. That was going to make this even worse.

"You look like you need some help," a voice said, and I struggled to face the source of the voice. There was an Aggron standing nearby, which appeared upside down to me. "I could help you if you like, human."

"That would be appreciated," I answered, still struggling to get free. "Please, I would be in your debt."

A sharp-edged rock sliced through the rope mere inches from my foot, and I fell face first onto my bag, which conveinitly contained some sharp-edged max revives. "Son of a bitch, that hurt."

I brushed myself off as I stood up. "Thanks. How can I make that up to you? I have some food if you're hungry."

"No," the Aggron shook his head. "I believe that I am endebted to you."

"What for-oh shit." It hit me right then and there. "You're the Aggron that killed Zen, weren't you?"

Looking away, the Aggron nodded. "If that's what you named your Darumaka, then yes. I did."

"It's okay," I told him. "Of course I'm torn up, and I should hate you, but I don't." I paused. "I've just got the feeling that Zen somehow knew that he was going to die, and I guess that it was meant to be."

"Is that really how you feel?"

"Yeah," I answered. "I can't forgive you for what you did, but the least I can do is say that I'm not going to hold it against you."

The Aggron sighed. "I have to make it up to you somehow. It is my duty."

"You don't have to," I insisted, reaching down to gather my things, and slinging my bag over my back. "Getting me outta that mess was good enough." I started walking deeper into the forest, trying to find Luna and Skyler.

"Yes I do," the Aggron continued, following behind me. "Nothing can atone for the sins I've committed."

I rolled my eyes, making sure that the Aggron didn't see. "No, honestly, it's okay." After a few more seconds of walking, I glanced back and saw him still following me. "Okay then," I sighed. "What did you have in mind?"

"I figured that I could become a personal servant to you, and obey your every command." Wow, this guy was completely nuts. But still, if an Aggron ever offers to be you servant, never pass it up.

I nodded. "Fair enough. You gotta name?" I lied to him. I really hated this guys guts, and would have tried to get him back if he weren't some several foot tall metal being.

"I am Jake," he answered proudly. "Born into human captivity, and then released into the wild."

"Well then, Jake," I said. "How do you battle?"

"Terribly," he replied, slashing some low hanging vines with his sharp metal claws. "After all, I was beaten by your Geodude." He swung his tail out, taking out several bushes. "By the way, that egotistic bastard Charizard thought that she was really something special."

I paused, and glanced back at him. "That black one with the red eyes?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Calls himself the Grim Reaper."

"Classy." Jake remained silent as we continued forward. "He lied to us all, deceived us, and used us to carry out his plans."

"What's he trying to accomplish?" I asked. "He thinks he some sort of god or something, doesn't he? Trying to accomplish world dominance? All that would happen will that he will enslave every living being, and the world would become dull."

Jake nodded. "Yeah. Last I knew, he was planning a trip to capture Celebi, and was preparing to face off against Darkrai for some reason."

"Meh, he's just trying to show off," I commented. "He'll get his ass kicked." By now, we were pretty deep in the forest, and still no sign of Skyler or Luna. "Seriously, where the hell are they?"

"If you're looking for your human friends," Jake said, pointing to the left. "They're that way. I passed them on my way here."

I shrugged. "Lead the way, and cut the brush in the way.

"No problem." He took the lead, lashing out with his claws, slicing any and all vegatation that blocked our path. I think that his human trainer may have taught him Cut or something like that.

As Jake mowed down a small tree, a stream came into view. "We can rest here if you want," I offered. "You've been at this for a while."

"It hasn't even been five minutes," he replied, "but why not?"

He bent down, and drank from the babbling brook while I sat on a rock, reaching into my bag, looking for a bottle of water. Pulling it out, I unscrewed the cap and began chugging, emptying the bottle in only a few seconds.

Jake looked up. "I'll never understand you humans," he remarked. "There's water right here," he pointed to the stream, "and yet you insist on drinking from your own container."

"I never question the ways of my speices, other than why we go to war and other stupid stuff like that," I said. "But never about why we drink from bottles, it's convienient, I guess."

"Dinking from a stream is more conveinent, and you don't have to carry a bottle," the Aggron replied, leaning in for another sip.

"Human are wierd," I told him, "get used to it."

Right about then, two Sableye burst through some bushes, clawing at each other, slashing and swinging their claws, locked in a battle for sumpremacy.

It was really easy to tell that they were Gremlin and Renegade, Luna's and Skyler's Saybleyes.

"Stand down," one said, swiping at the other. "I am far to strong for you."

"Bullshit," the other exclaimed, retailiating with several Shadow Claws. "I can take you down, you son of a bitch."

They clashed again, lashed out and blocking each others attacks. Finally, one of them missed a beat, and the other slashed him upside the face, and jumped back, preparing a Shadow Ball. It fired, but the other sidestepped, firing his own and hitting the other in the face.

Growling in rage, the one that had been hit pounced on the other, clawing rapidly. Jake sighed and clomped over, picking up one Sableye in each hand, holding them up to his eye level.

"Put me down so I can kick his ass, you giant tin can!" the one in his left hand shouted. "Put me down or you're next!"

"Do not listen to him," the one in his right hand said, "put me down and allow me to crush his weak being."

Shaking his head, Jake said, "Why don't the two of you chill out? You guys seem tense."

"Our trainers set us against each other, and I am not going to dissappoint," the one in the left said, struggling to get out of the armored titan's grasp.

"I will defeat my opponent in the field of battle," the other replied, "now put me down, you blashemous, incharitble, hunk of metal."

"Gremlin!" Luna called out, wading through the bushes. "Where are you?" She saw me, and waved. "I didn't think I'd see you out here."

"Eh," I shrugged. "I get around."

"What? Don't forget about me!" the Sableye in Jake's left hand, presumably Gremlin called out. "You can't ingore me!"

I pointed, "Gremlin wants you," I told her.

She looked over, and saw Jake holding the two darkness Pokemon. "Um, which one is Gremlin? Do you know?"

"Yeah, the one on the left," I answered. "By the way, the Aggron's name is Jake, if you wanted to know."

She smiled as Jake handed her Gremlin. "Nice to meet you."

"The feeling is mutual," he nodded, dropping Renagade to the ground. "I assume that we may be travelling together in the future."

"He's says it's good to meet you as well," I translated. "Anyway, where's Skyler?"

Luna pointed in the direction that she came from. "He went the other way, searching for Renegade. I guess Gremlin found him."

"And that brat caused quite a ruckus," Renegade said, folding his arms as he glared up at Gremlin, who was sitting on Luna's shoulder.

Suddenly, something clicked in Luna's head. "Wait, did you say that the Aggron said something?"

"Did I forget to mention that I understand Pokemon?"

"Um...yeah. Well, when you were telling us about your Pokemon a while back, when we first met, it sounded like you could, but you never said anything." Luna looked up at Gremlin. "What does he think of me?"

Gremlin smiled and cleared his throat. "I believe that you are the most wonderful trainer ever. I feel privelaged to be under your command, and-"

"He really likes you," I answered. "He feels honored to be your Pokemon."

"Is that what you said?" Luna asked Gremlin, who nodded. "Dude, that's awesome!" she exclaimed. "I need to talk to some of my Pokemon. How do you do it?"

I shrugged. "To hell if I know. I don't really remember."

Luna's smiled faded. "Oh, well if you remember, let me know."

Sklyer burst onto the scene, panting heavily. "I couldn't find them," he said in between breaths. Then he saw Gremlin on Luna's shoulder, Renegade next to Jake, and me sitting on the rock. "So, where've you been?" he asked, picking up Renegade.

"Around," Renegade and I answered at the same time, and then shooting each other looks.

"So...are you still mad at David and Dawn?" Luna asked. "Skyler and I were kinda against it, so we broke off from them."

"Actually, David admitted that it was a mistake, and I think he will let me back in the group after Dawn gets better."

They both stared at me. "What did she do this time? Fall off the scooter again?"

"No," I replied, looking away. "I got a job at a resturant, and Dawn and David came in. A few minutes later, six men walked in, and pulled out guns." I sighed, looking back at them, seeing their surprised faces. "Last I heard, she was in critical condition, and had been shot six times."

There was a stunned silence. My mind wandered, thinking about death...

_"I took that for you." _The voice was of a girl, and it sounded weak.

_"Why?" _This voice sounded like my voice, but I couldn't tell.

_"I was wrong about you...I told you._

The memory faded, but I had heard enough. The voice that spoke first, it could be none other than Dawn's.


	12. Chapter 12: Rescue Operation

_Chapter Twelve: Rescue Operation-Preparation_

**-Dawn's Point of View-**

I woke in a strange place, there ws nothing around me at all. Just a white void with the occasional Pokemon or person appearing here and there in the distance. They all seemed just as confused as I was.

Out of nowhere, a Machop flew over. Yes, he had angel wings, and seemed to have a glowing white aura. "Hello, I'm Sefer. You're Dawn Hikari, right?" he asked, folding his arms and smiling.

"Yeah, why?" I asked. "Where am I? What happened?"

"You died," Sefer replied simply. "Under normal circumstances, I would escort you to one of the spheres of the afterlife, but, it seems something has come up."

I blinked, trying to fully grasp what he had said. "...and by that you mean...?"

Sefer's smile widened, "You'll see. Follow me." He took of flying in one direction, and I ran after. It seemed like ages of running, but I never got tired. Other Pokemon with wings and white auras flew around, going to the normal people and Pokemon and leading them to their eternal home.

Hours later, even though it only felt like seconds, Sefer stopped, and point at and oddity in the void. A brown stone tower, with no apparent beginning or end, standing as tall is infinity.

"This is the the Tower of Infinity," Sefer explained. "It exsists in all planes of reality, and in every world in exsistance, not to mention also in the physical, the afterlife, and purgatory."

I was still gaping at it. "It's like nothing I've ever seen."

"Very few humans have ever seen it before, the Machop said. "The Tower of Infinity has several names; The Endless Turrent, the Dark Tower, the Pillar of Colossus, to name a few. Have you ever heard the poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came?"

I shrugged. "Just a few stanzas of it."

"That poem is based off of the journey to the Tower of Infinity in purgatory, which is where people and Pokemon go when it is undecided where they should go, to the spheres of afterlife or the dungeon of torture."

"But, why are we here?"

Sefer smile grew even wider, going from cheek to cheek. "The Tower of Infinity is the home of Arceus, and he wants to see you."

Stone blocks that made up the wall of the tower slid away, floating in mid air and leaving an entrance for us to enter through. Sefer pushed me ahead, and into the tower. The first thing that I noticed was the countless stairs spiraling upward.

"So, we have to go up all those stairs, huh?" I said, silently cursing. "That'll take forever."

Sefer nodded. "It could, but it might only take a few seconds. Time flows strangely here, if time even does flow here." There was a paused, and Sefer reached over to a wall, and pressed an out-of-place button on a stone brick. "But, Arceus put an elevator in a couple of hundred-thousand years ago, so its been easier recently."

A glass cylander tube came down at an alarming speed, somehow instantly stopping when it reached where we were. The doors slid open, and Sefer herded me inside. As soon as the doors closed, the elevator shot up. "Now, when it used to take forever to get to the top, it now takes seconds, depending on time flow. We might even reach the top before we reached the tower."

My mind tried to comprehend his logic, but horribly failed. "That's not possible."

Sefer laughed. "I used to think that. And then I realized that Arceus can do whatever the hell he damn well pleases."

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open again. We were at the top of the tower that had no top. Arceus was standing calmly, appearing the the form of a levitating white flame with green eyes. Beside him was a Darumaka, (was that Zen?) also standing around equally calm.

In the middle of the top of the tower was a pillar, engulfed in a white light that led away from the tower at an angle, and off into the distance.

"It's about time you got here," Arceus said. "We've been standing here for three and a half weeks."

"No we haven't," the Darumaka cut in. "It's only been a few minutes."

The white flame sighed. "You have no idea of how time works here, do you?"

"Not a clue."

Arceus turned to me. "Well, Miss Hikari, how do you like the afterlife?"

I thought for a minute. "I really don't know," I answered honestly. "All it's done so far is confuse the hell outta me."

"Yo, Dawn!" the Darumaka shouted. "Long time, no see!" Yeah, that was Zen. And I could understand every word he said.

"Dawn," Arceus started, "you're here because you've been given a special opportunity. The opportunity to go back." He glanced down at Zen, and then back up at me. "You have this opportunity, because Zen is willing to sacrifice his soul for you."

"What?"

Nodding, the white flame continued. "To send someone back into the realm of the living, there must be balance. For a soul to return to the body in the living world, a soul here in the afterlife must be sent to the Aredis."

"What's the Aredis?"

Arceus glared at me. "You don't want to know. Trust me, if I were to tell you, you would have nightmares for centuries."

I looked down at Zen, my mind still trying to understand all of this. "But, if it's that bad, then why would you do that for me?"

Zen shrugged. "I always liked you for some reason," he said. "Sure, your chest is almost completely flat, but for some reason or another, I always liked you."

"...uh, was that a compliment?"

Arceus summoned one of his 1,000 arms to face-palm. When he was done, he let his arm dissipated into the air. "Allright, then, now that that's out of the way, let's get on with it, shall we? Dawn, you'll wake up with no memories of these places, but you'll still be alive, at least."

"One more thing," Zen said, staring me straight in the eyes. "Nothing is as it seems."

"She won't remember you said that." Arceus said smirking. "It's time to begin." The glow in his eyes instantly intensified, burning my retinas, and I blocked the blinding light with my hand.

Pain filled my whole body, and I collasped, screaming as my vision blurred and went dark...

* * *

**-David's Point of View-**

I reached into my pocket, pulling out the money to pay the clerk for the supplies I was purchasing. Ten revives, twenty super potions, five full heals, and fifty Pokeballs. As per custom at Pokemarts, he gave me a free premier ball for every ten Pokeballs I bought.

The total cost was more than I would've had on hand, but Trevor brought back Luna and Skyler, and they were willing to share some cash. Trevor even donated all the money he had; the sole quarter that he found on the street.

"Thank you very much," the clerk said, smiling. "Please come again." I grabbed the plastic bags that the supplies had been dumped into, and nodded a thank you.

The door slid open, and I exited out into the port city, which I honestly thought we were spending a lot of time here in Gateon. Trevor was leaning against the wall just next to the doors, and was reading a brochure. "I think I've made up my mind," he said, glancing up.

"Here," I said, shoving one of the white plastic bags into his hands. "And what are you talking about?"

He shrugged his backpack off, setting it on the bench next to him. Unzipping it, Trevor emptied the supplies into the backpack, and wadded up the plastic bag and shoved that into his pocket. "Hoenn," he replied, "I think that after this is all over, I might try the Hoenn League."

"Eh," I said, handing him another bag, which he dumped out into his bag. "I heard Steven stepped down as Champion, or was beaten, or something like that."

"He was that dude obsessed with stones, right?" Trevor asked, once again sticking the wadded up bag into his jeans pocket.

I nodded. "Yeah. You ever meet him?"

Trevor thought for a minute, before shaking his head. "Nah, I think I overheard Dawn talking about him sometime or another."

"I don't think that she ever talked about him," I answered, trying to not think about Dawn and her condition...ah dammit.

"Then I guess my memory is improving," Trevor said, reaching for the last bag. "Heard anything from Adian yet? We still need those other Snag Machines."

"Nothing," I replied, as he repeated the process of dumping the stuff into his backpack. "But he'll be pissed at us for leaving him at the police station." I glanced around. "Where's Luna and Skyler?"

He pointed over to the hospital. "They went to see if they could visit Dawn. Said that we could probably handle this raid on Cipher's little outpost on our own."

"They're ditching us?"

"No," he shook his head. "They want to be with their friend while she recovers, and thinks it might be best if they stay with her in case someone else tries to assassinate her."

"Oh...that's probably smart," I agreed. "Then I guess we should stay with her too."

Trevor shook his head again. "We've left Krane with those thugs for too long. If he's there, then we need to go in and get him out." He slung his backpack across his back, and began walking toward the entrance of Gateon. "If we leave now, we can get there by tomorrow.

An old drab green pickup truck pulled over to us. Adian leaned his head out of the window. "If I drive you, you can get there in a half-hour," he said. "And I have the other two Snag Machines."

I waved at him awkwardly. "Hi, where have you been?"

Adian sighed. "Around. And thanks for ditching me. I had to lug those two heavy cases all the way back to the lab, and then I had to walk all the way over to the car rental place six miles north of there. Then, I had to drive all the way back here. Then-"

"Nice to see that you're doing good," Trevor interrupted, stepping up on one of the back tires and hopping into the truck bed. I did the same, only less gracefully. "Let's go," Trevor said, leaning against one of the two cases that contained the Snag Machines.

I heard Adian's sigh as the truck pulled away from Gateon Port, and toward the Cipher base. It was a weird feeling. Heading straight into some criminal's base, and you're only allies are another fifteen year old and a total of six Pokemon between us.

Yeah, I guess that you could say it was tense.

The road was rather bumpy and uneven, and the forest canopy above us blocked out most of the sunlight. "You know," I started, just speaking a random thought of mine, "you always hear the stories of how people became Champions, and they all walked. None ever took a car. I've never understood this."

"Most people aren't old enough to drive," Trevor pointed out. "And you'd miss the scenery if you drove, and the chances to catch wild Pokemon."

I smirked, "You wouldn't miss either of those here in Orre," I said, leaning my head against the back window of the truck and closing my eyes. "There's nothing but giant unoccupied forests and a bigass desert, which is also unoccupied."

"I'm sure there's a few colonies of Pokemon living around here somewhere," Trevor said, holding his arm over the side of the truck, letting the wind flap at his jacket's sleeve. "People just haven't found them yet."

"If you want to look for them, good luck," I said. "You will definitely need it."

Trevor suddenly snapped his fingers. "I completely forgot, we'll have some fire power when we raid their base. Jake's meeting us there."

I nodded. "Okay, cool. Now who's Jake?"

"He's my Aggron servant," he answered. "The same Aggron that killed Zen."

I blinked. "You actually forgave that Aggron for that?"

"Nope. He offered to cater to my every need, so of course I'm not turning an offer like that down," he glanced off into the distance, and a small, devious smile formed on his face. "And after what he did, I might take advantage of the situation. Make him do all of the work."

I smiled. "Great. We now have a slave Aggron, who'll listen to your every command. This just keeps getting better and better."

"How are Eve and Ursla?" Trevor asked.

"Fine," I answered. "I want to evolve Eve, but I don't know what to evolve her into. I don't want her to hate what she becomes."

He nodded, and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, if you want, I'll ask her what she wants to become. I mean, you know I can..."

"Sure." I reached for Eve's Pokeball, and let the Eevee loose. She stumbled a bit as the pickup truck went over a rut in the road, but she regained her balance. "So, Eve, what do you want to evolve into?"

"Vee!" she replied. Of course.

"She asked what you meant by that," Trevor translated.

"I thought it was obvious."

"Vee eve ee vee!" Eve shouted. Trevor rolled his eyes.

I knew I was going to regret asking. "What did she say?"

"She said that she wants to evolve into a Garchomp," he answered, shaking his head sadly.

I groaned. "What do you want to evolve into that Eevees can evolve into?"

Eve seemed to think about it for a few seconds, eyes darting around as she did. "Eve ee vee ee!"

"She says she really doens't know, and that she hasn't thought about very much," Trevor said. "But, what ever she does evolve into, she can deal with it."

I smiled. At least Eve would be happy with whatever decision I made. I glanced out, seeing the sun as it began to set over Mt. Battle, coating the land with a beautiful orange tint. Faint stars twinkled in the sky. Eve slowly crawled into my lap, and curled up into a ball, slipping off into sleep.

* * *

**-Trevor's Point of View-**

Eve climbed onto David's lap, and fell asleep. I smiled, wondering if something like that ever happened to me before. I couldn't remember anything the top of my head, but then again I really couldn't remember much.

The thick forest thinned out, with the trees becoming farther and farther apart. The grass and shrubbery turned to dry dirt and smaller plants, and a few minutes later, the truck left the forest behind, and we were in the desert.

The rotating tires kicked up sand, sending it a few feet up into the air, while a sandstorm brewed in the distance. I thought about the possibility that some Ground-Type Pokemon could live out here, maybe even some that had never been discovered before.

"This is as far as I can go," Adian said, as the truck slowed to a stop. "I'm nearly running on empty, and I need to get back to Gateon to refuel."

I jumped out of the back, and reached back in for the Snag Machine encased in the case. "Shouldn't be a problem," I said. "I think we can handle it. Getting back might be a bitch, since it's nearly night."

"Yeah," Adian agreed. "And watch your mouth, kid. I'll get more gas, and meet you back here in two hours, for extraction."

"Ten-four," David said, jumping out of the back with Eve in his arms. "Just don't run out of gas before you get back. I don't want to walk back."

"I could care less," Adian retorted, as he began to turn the truck around. "After all, ya'll left me at the police station."

David nodded. "Let me rephrase that. Professor Krane wouldn't want to walk back."

"Now that's better," Adian said. "I'll see you around." He pulled away, leaving a rather obvious cloud of sand as he went.

I looked down at the Snag Machine in my hands. "You're gonna have to help me with this," I said, I as put it on. "What button does what?"

"It's simple," David replied. "The shadow moniter on your head will react when a Shadow Pokemon is nearby, and then you use the lens to see the shadow aura. Then throw a Pokeball. It's just like battling a wild Pokemon, only it's not wild."

"Can you please shut the hell up?" Eve asked from David's arms, yawning. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

I sighed, and moved my right arm around, trying to get it used to the added weight of the Snag Machine. "Your Eevee really hates me," I said. "I'm not sure if she's said one nice thing to me since we met."

"I really don't think highly of wineos," Eve said. "Especially ones that smash their heads on rocks and forget who they are."

"I didn't get drunk and smash my head!" I shouted back at her, and David took a step back.

"Geez, I guess she does hate you," he said. "Try to be nice, Eve."

Eve pouted and closed her eyes, trying to fall back asleep. "Whatevs."

"How far are we from the Cipher base?" I asked, looking around at the endless waves of sand dunes.

David shrugged. "Just a few miles to the north," he replied, and began walking. "It'll only take a hour or two."

"Yeah, and like we have all the time in the world," I muttered, and followed. "What happens if I get sand in my shoes and can't walk anymore?"

David glanced down at his own shoes. "Well, mine are made specially to keep sand out, so if you aren't wearing a pair, it sucks to be you."

"Great," I mumbled. And then a giant figure jumped out of a sand dune, kicking up sand and sending it all over the place.

"I'm here," Jake said, shaking some sand out of his metal joints. "Anything my master needs?"

"Could you give me a lift?"

Jake reached over and grabbed me, and set me on his back. "Where to?"

I pointed at David, who was staring with wide open eyes. "Just follow him."

"I thought you were kidding," David said. "You really have an Aggron as a servant." He turned back to the way he was heading. "Well, things really have gotten interesting." We walked in silence, and half an hour later, the Cipher base came into view. The sun had fully set, leaving us in the dark. The moon provided enough, just enough light.

"So, do you really forgive me for what I have done to you?" Jake asked, keeping his eyes on the road. "I get the feeling that you honestly don't."

I sighed, looking at the reflection of the moon on the back of Jake's metal plates. "You murdered one of my Pokemon, one of my friends," I told him. "I never can forgive you, never."

David shot a look back at us, but soon turned his attention to the base.

"I understand that," Jake said. "That is why I'm trying to make amends for what I did. To replace your Darumaka."

I laughed. "There's no way that you could even begin to replace Zen. You're not a Fire-Type, you not as small as he was, and you're not a pervert. So don't even bother trying. Be yourself, and we'll get along just fine."

Jake nodded. "If that's is what you wish."

"Hold up," David said, pointing toward the base. In the distance, I could make out a red vehicle, the same that the goons that had abducted Professor Krane had used. "He's got to be here."

I dismounted Jake and rapped him on the shoulder. "Prep for combat."

"How are we going to do this?" David asked. "The doors are probably locked, and I don't think there's any other way in."

"I think I know a way," I said. "Hey Jake, you know Hyper Beam?"

He nodded. I smiled. This was going to be fun.


	13. Chapter 13: Saving Professor Krane

_Chapter Thirteen: Saving Professor Krane_

The sun had completely set, and most of the light that we had was coming from the moon, shining brightly in the sky.

David crawled to the top of a sand dune, trying to keep low in case Cipher had a sniper or something. After all, if you're a big criminal organization, you've got to have a sniper.

This base didn't have a sniper, from what I could tell. "What's up?" I whispered to David as he slowly climbed down from the sandy hill.

"We have company," he said, reaching for Ursla's Pokeball. Eve was on the ground, casually licking her paw. "Six of them, coming straight at us." Ursla materialized next to him in a flash of red, and glanced around, trying to get a grasp on what was happening.

I reach for Ivy's, Bark's, and Aqua's Pokeballs, and sent them out. "Then it'll be three on three," I said. "Jake, back David up."

"No problemo."

"You know how to use that thing, right?" David asked, pointing the the machine on my arm. "I think I gave you a crash course in it, right?"

"Yeah."

The six figures peaked the sand dune, and the first thing I noticed was their multicolored apparrel. They were clad in the Cipher armor, only instead of white, they had green, red, blue, brown, purple, and yellow.

"We are the Sexum Brothers!" the red one on the end shouted. "We strike fear into the hearts of Cipher's enemies! We are the undefeatable force of Cipher! And we will not fail! Now sound off!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

There was a pause. "Wait, five?" the red one asked, looking back over at his brothers, who were looking around for their lost compatriot. "Someone's missing."

The purple one scoffed. "Idiot. You counted wrong. Let me show you how it's done." He turned back, facing toward us. "Sound off!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

Once again, they didn't count the one who initiated the countdown. "What? I thought that would work..." The pruple one said, looking around his brothers. "Ah, forget it. Whoever's left will come along sooner or later."

"Those guys are so fucking stupid," Aqua said, stating the blatantly obvious.

The six faced us, reaching for Pokeballs. "You take the three on the left, and I'll take the three on the right," I whispered to David, who nodded. "Jake will back you up, try to snag any shadows."

"All right brothers!" the green guy said, "let's show the insolent children that we are not to be messed with." He tossed his Pokeball out, releasing a Seedot. Yeah, really intimidating. There was a beep, and the lense of the Snag Machine slid out and over my eye, showing a shadowy energy enamating from it.

"Time to start this ass whoopin'" the yellow one chimed in, releasing a Mareep. Once again, the shadow moniter beeped, and the lense popped out to reveal the dark aura surrounding the Mareep.

The brown one nodded and mumbled something, and released his Pokemon, which was a Baltoy. As I expected, the shadow moniter beeped, and revealed that it was yet another shadow Pokemon.

David had already engaged the other three, with Jake providing an occiasional attack or tail swipe.

"Seedot use Shadow Wave!" Green shouted, and the acorn summoned a wave of pure darkness, and shot it at my Pokemon. All three were hit, but they took it well. Kinda...

"Sonofabitch!" Aqua cried out, falling on his back. "That really hurt!"

"Quit your complaining and give us some support," Ivy ordered, taking control.

"Ivy, use Leaf Blade on Mareep, Bark use Bite on Seedot, and Aqua use Water Gun on Baltoy!" I ordered them.

"Counter with Shadow Wave!" Brown ordered his Baltoy. The shadow waves pulsated out of its body, striking all three of my Pokemon. Aqua was cursing wildly, stopping only to fire off the stream of water at Baltoy.

Bark bit down on the Seedot, causing it to cry out in pain. I winced a little from the sound, but reached into my backpack for my Pokeballs. I removed three, right as Ivy struck the Mareep.

"Use Shadow Blitz!" Yellow ordered his electric sheep. Ivy was too close to Mareep, and was slammed straight into the ground. Ivy had been already weakened from the Shadow Waves, and didn't last a minute. He was out on the ground.

"Shit," I muttered, throwing the Pokeball. "This'll even the odds."

The Mareep was consumed into the ball, recieving some shouts of confusion from Green, Yellow, and Brown. It rolled once, twice, thrice, and...click. That made one of the Shadow Pokemon.

"Aqua, use Water Gun! Bark, get that ball!" Aqua provided Bark with some cover fire...err water, while Bark picked up the Pokeball in his mouth and ran over to me. I prepped the second Pokeball.

After dropping the ball at my feet, Bark returned to the battle. Yellow seemed rather annoyed at losing his Pokemon, but he didn't really seem too caring.

"Bark, distract the Seedot!" I shouted, as he lunged at it, and began to draw it from it's trainer's commands. I flung the Pokeball, and the Seedot was engulfed into the ball, and it the ground.

The Baltoy let loose another Shadow Wave, taking Aqua to the ground. Three seconds of squirming and swearing later, he passed out, unable to battle. Bark was my last chance, and there was Gold, should I need her. I really didn't want her to see the Aggron.

The Seedot suddenly appeared out of nowhere, breaking free from the Pokeball. "Dammit!" I cursed. "Bark, use Leer!" Falling back to an old strategy. I got out another Pokeball, and chucked it as my Herdier raised its defence.

The Baltoy was engulfed into the ball. "Bark, get that ball!" I ordered, and he dashed into the fray, enduring the Shadow Waves that had been launched at him. The Pokeball was still wiggling when he picked it up in his mouth and tossed it back to me. I clicked shut right as I caught it.

Bark attempted to run back to my side as I took out a fourth Pokeball, taking another shot at the Seedot. But, he was cut down by the Seedot's Shadow Wave. He collasped, attempting to stand, but was beat down by yet another Shadow Wave.

He staggered to his feet, but was struck with wave after wave of the shadow power. "I can't...go...on," he gasped, fainting.

"Just one more," I muttered, throwing the last ball, and the Seedot was drawn into the ball. Yellow and Brown had ran off, presumably to warn the rest of the base about our arrival. The last Pokeball clicked shut, and I collasped to my knees, relieved.

As Green ran off, Red, Blue, and Purple followed a few seconds later. I returned my three fallen Pokemon to their Pokeballs, and stood up, looking over to see how David did.

"Got all three," he said, holding up the red and white capsules. "Houndour, Spheal, and Gulpin. You?"

"Yeah, I caught' em all," I said, referencing some famous trainer's punchline. "Baltoy, Mareep, and Seedot."

He held out his hand, and I handed the Pokeballs to him. Dropping them in his pocket, he returned Ursla to her ball. "You're Aggron did most of the work," he said, reaching for Eve's Pokeball.

The Eevee was limping, apparently wounded from her battles. "I feel funny," she said, flopping to the ground, and her ears dropped.

"What's wrong, Eve?" David asked, noticing her. "Are you tired?"

She shook her head. "I feel lightheaded and..." her voice trailed out as she began to glow a bright white, casting a warm glow over the surrounding area. Her legs grew longer, and Eve grew bigger in her body, tail, and ears. The glow faded, and a black four-legged creature stood there.

"Eve!" David exclaimed. "You evolved into an Umbreon!"

She scoffed, taking a few steps to try out her new body. "Gee, like I didn't notice. Thanks for telling me this."

"She likes to be sarcastic," I said, "but it's good she evolved, we'll need all the firepower we can get."

Bob was a Cipher guard, waiting just inside the base, manning the intercom. He really hated his position, sitting on an old barstool, right infront of the intercom. The only reason he was here was because he laughed when XD001 dropped the boat. Seriously, Greevil could be such a bitch.

"Um...hello?" A voice asked over the intercom. It sounded like some teenager, but that would be almost impossible out here in the secluded desert.

"Please give indenification clearance code seven," Bob boredly demanded, leaning on the intercom button and nearly sliding off the stool. This was the most exciting thing that had happened all night.

"Um...actually, I'm here with the takeout that was ordered."

"What?"

"Didn't someone order takeout with extra boom?"

"What...oh hell!" The door exploded inward, a powerful beam tearing a hole clean through it. Shards of metal were sent scattering all over the place, and Bob imediantly hit the deck, crawling under a nearby table that contained the coffee machine.

He saw the Aggron march in, followed by two teens and an Umbreon.

"I thought you said that we'd be discreet," David said, stepping over the shattered remains of a desk. "There are alarms ringing everywhere."

"Where's the fun in that?" I shouted, letting my voice ring out. Hey, if they already knew we were here, then what was the point in being discreet?

"Gee," David muttered. "Between your howling and his blasting, I'm surprised that the whole station doesn't know we're here."

"Quoting Star Wars?" I asked. "And they do know we're here, so let's go."

We sprinted into the elevator, barely managing to squeeze in with Jake. I hit the down button, and a few seconds later we were in Cipher's underground base.

"Let's split up and look for Krane," David suggested. "We'd cover more ground in a shorter can protect me, and your Aggron can do the same for you."

"You take left, I take right," I said, walking down the right hallway. The walls were a bright white, and the floors a drak contrasting gray. No one walked the halls, and I saw nobody milling around. We turned corner after corner, taking some time for Jake to shoot some rocks at security cameras. But I was beginning to think that no one was home.

A few minutes later, we had gotten nowhere, and still hadn't seen a living soul.

"You know, I'm beginning to think this place might be empty," I said to Jake.

He nodded. "Perhaps they fled after they saw my power," he replied, for the first time sounding egotistcal. We continued on in silence, the only sounds were my footfalls and Jake's claws clicking on the polished floor.

We rounded a corner, running straight into a group of three Cipher Peons. They stood calmly, blocking the way to an elevator, cocky smiles on their faces.

"Or it was a trap," I muttered, as three more Peons flanked us. "Well well well," I said. "It appears that we've been surrounded."

"That's what I was thinking," the lead Peon said, smirking as she stepped forward. "Now will you come quietly, or will we have to take you by force?"

Now, I smirked and folded my arms. "I'm afraid that's quite impossible."

She folded her arms, imitating my posture. "And why is that?"

"We've got you outnumbered."

The lead Peon actaully took a step back, mainly out of shock, then resumed her smirk. Some other Peon suddenly spoke. "Outnumbered? Wait," he began counting the Peons. "One, two, three-"

Jake groaned, and turned letting loose another Hyper Beam, cutting down the three behind us. The fell to the ground, groaning and unconscience. He turned back, breathing heavily. "Yeah, we're outnumbering you two to three."

The lead Peon shook her head. "That's the saddest thing I've ever heard. And besides, your Aggron has to recharge, giving us time."

"And what do you have planned?" I asked smuggly. "I don't think you'd stoop so low as to kill a teenager. Or are you?"

"What are you getting at, kid?" she asked, smirk fading.

I shrugged. "Well, there were six of you, and there were six shooters back in Gateon Port yesterday, so that might prove something."

"It don't prove nothing," she said defenisvely. "I don't think that Cipher wouldn't want to bother your friend unless you mess with us first."

"I never said anything about my friends. Which that might also prove something."

She smirked again. "You're rather clever, but you can't stop the team we just dispatched, can you?"

Shit. "Screw this, I've stalled enough. Long enough for Jake to recharge." I saw the fear spark into the lead Peon's eyes as she realized this, and she began to back up slowly, before turning and running to the elevator.

Jake unleashed the beam, mowing down the Peons, and leaving us clear passage to the elevator.

"We need to find David, and let him know that we're going back to Gateon," I said, mashing down the button. "We have to stop them."

Jake shook his head. "There's nothing you can do," he told me. "They probably have transport, and you don't. It would be too late by the time you got back. Have faith in your other friends."

I tapped my foot impatiently as the elevator rose slowly. "I know, but still...I'd feel safer being there."

Jake shrugged, or at least as much as he could in the cramped confines of the tubular elevator. "Maybe so, but you can't get there. But trust me, that one human has a Nidoking. Those things are pretty tough."

"Tougher than bullets?" I asked, as the doors slid open, and we sprinted out into the bright white corridors, only stopping for a few seconds so Jake could struggle to get out. "They might even use bombs this time."

"If it really means that much, then if you want, I'll head back, and see what I can do," Jake offered, slowing his pace. "Would that make you feel better?"

"I'll go with you."

"No," he protested, raising a claw. "You have a duty to you friend here, to find your lost person. I'll go alone."

I sighed. "Ok, fine. Your metal body can deflect bullets, right?"

He modestly nodded. "Yes, but I doubt it could stop your human exploding weapons. Why do you guys even make those? Just you use against other humans?"

"If I had an answer, I'd tell you," I replied. "But hurry, you know how to get to Gateon Port, right?"

"I've been living in these lands since I was a mere Lairon," Jake told me. "I know my way around to almost any place." He turned and fired another Hyper Beam into the wall, causing the whole base to shake, and the glass doors of the elevator and the surrounding door shattered, sending an army of tiny shards across the floor.

When the dust cleared, there was an Aggron sized hole in the wall, exposing the dirt and rock behind it. "I'm glad I know Dig," Jake muttered, as he began pratically swimming through the dirt and out of sight.

"I guess that's that," I said aloud, even though there was no one around. I grabbed Gold's Pokeball, and released the rock. She was the last Pokemon I had to work with, since Bark, Ivy, and Aqua were still out cold.

Gold blinked a few times, taking in her surroundings. "Where are we?"

"We're in Cipher's base, rescuing Krane," I answered. "Before I go into detail, we need to move along, like now. We're going to have company any minute, since giant holes don't just appear in walls. You've got to blast them."

"What?"

"Like I said, I'll tell you as we run." We broke out running, well, Gold was floating. "Remember that Aggron that killed Zen?"

She nodded, which is hard if you head is your whole body. "Yeah, why?"

"He's kinda working with us now."

The golden Geodude stopped in her tracks, glaring at me from behind. "What? You're willing to work with him after he did what he did?"

I sighed. Great. Skidding to a stop, I turned to face her. "Listen, I'll never be truely able to forgive him for what he did, but, he seemed sincere. And he hasn't tried anything funny yet."

"I don't trust him," she deadpanned, folding her arms.

"Fine, then don't!" I shouted. "He's sticking with us, and that's final. Now we have some more important things to focus on right now."

Gold scoffed, and we continued our run through the base. In all honesty, we were lost. Lost inside of some criminal organization's base. Trust me, if that ever happens to you, it's scary. Every corner you turn you expect someone holding an AK-47 to be waiting to turn you into swiss cheese.

I hoped David was having better luck, and then went back to mentally cursing.

* * *

**-David's Point of View-**

I was lost. Completely lost. I had no clue where I was, and I was sure there wasn't ever going to be a map with one of those giant red 'you are here' arrows.

So yeah, it was going pretty good.

I held up the three Pokeballs of the newly captured Shadow Pokemon I had snagged earlier. Spinarak, Carhvana, and Numel. After inspecting each one and finally submitting to the fact that I couldn't tell which one was in which ball, I dropped them into the pouch on myside along with the other six snagged Pokemon.

Eve jogged ahead of me, checking around each corner for any of the annoying ass Peons. Fortuantely, we hadn't encountered any in the past couple of minutes.

"This sucks," I muttered, and Eve nodded. We walked down a flight of stairs, and into a room that was glowing blue from the multitude of computer terminals down there. Two Cipher nerds were messing with one computer, while a third was locked in a face palm next to them.

"You idiots, you're just making it worse!" the third one shouted, breaking out of his face palm. "It doesn't matter how hard you look, my sister was not in a porn video!"

I groaned. "Nice to see that they're hard at work," I whispered to Eve. After a second, Eve snickered, and had to hold back her laughs. "What?"

She shook her head, and crouched low, crawling slowly past them and they never looked up. I carefully went prone, and copied her, making my way to the other end of the room.

"Try using facial recognition software, Trent!" One of the persons at the computer said. The other one chuckled and nodded. From what I could see, I guessed he was about seventeen, which I thought was kinda young for someone working in Cipher.

"I'll need the disk on the table," he jerked his thumb at the table that I was right next to. My heart raced as I crawled even faster, trying to make it away from the table. I stopped next to a wide box, hoping that the shadow from it would hide me.

No one moved. I couldn't see them, and I was really freaking out. I didn't know why, after all, I had Eve, Ursla, and the other eight Pokemon, so I should be able to take care of myself. But I was still scared.

"It's already in," the other one said. "I used it for hunting down that escaping guy. The one with the Togepi."

The one called Trent chuckled again. "Perfect. Did you find him?"

"Nah, he got away."

"...can I get a picture of your sister?"

Taking a deep breath of air, I continued, crawling to the stairs. The people wouldn't be able to see them from their computer, but up until that point, I was fair game. I pulled myself forward with my arms, and pushed forward with my legs. It seemed like it was going to take forever.

Eve hadn't had any trouble, since she was smaller and more nimble. Plus she was black, which helped since she was sticking to the shadows. With one final pull and push, I was safe behind the wall that blocked the nerds view of the stairs.

Relieved, I brushed the accumulated dust off of my pants and shirt, and quietly climbed the stairs, Eve choosing to walk along the handrail on the side.

Going up at two stairs a step, I reached the top after a couple of seconds, and looked around. The room was a blank white, with a table and a few chairs scattered around it. Professor Krane calmly stood there, hands behind his back, talking to some Cipher Peon, who looked rather important due to his more pointed hat and yellow accents on his armor. Then I realized that it was the same person that I had snagged Ursla from.

"...and that's why you should help us," Krane told the man. "Turn away from your evil work here. Pokemon need to be free, rather than having their hearts slammed shut for human gains. That's just cruelity to Pokemon. So, are you with us, Mr. Naps?"

"Look, I get what you're trying to say," Naps said. "I mean, I could help you, but I can't. I just can't help you there." He suddenly noticed me standing there, and folded his arms. "Hey, you're that punk that stole my Teddiursa!"

Krane turned and smiled. "Ah, David. I assume that you're here for my rescue?"

"You assume correctly, Professor," I replied, reaching for Ursla's Pokeball. I let her loose. "Say hello to your old friend," I remarked snidely, smirking.

And then Ursla did the one thing that no one expected. She ran over and hugged Naps' leg.

There was an awkward silence as we all stared at the Teddiursa. She smiled. "Ursa ursa!" She climbed up Nap's leg, and hugged him around his neck.

Naps broke the silence. "Um...is this normal for them?"

"I have no idea," I said. "I've never seen something like this before. I thought she'd hate your guts."

Naps smiled slightly. "I guess you were wrong. She really likes me."

Professor Krane saw his opportunity. "This is what Pokemon that have been purified are like. They like people, they have personality, they can feel their emotions. So, what do you say? Are you sure that you don't want to join us? We can change the world."

Naps seemed to be actually considering it. Ursla was nodding, trying to get him to say yes. "I don't know..." He looked around, seeing who was around to hear him. "Whatever, YOLO. My wages here were too low anyway. And I really hate that bitch Lovrina."

"That's the spirit, I think," Professor Krane said, smiling. He adjusted his glasses. "I suppose that you can get us out of the place, right?"

"Just follow my lead." He looked over at me. "Kid, return your Pokemon to their balls, and hide them on you. Don't keep them out in the open."

Despite the fact that I still didn't trust this guy, I complied, returning Eve and Ursla to their balls.

Naps grabbed me and Krane by our shoulders. "A routine prisoner transfer won't look out of the normal, will it?" he asked retorically. "Just don't say a word and pretend that you hate me."

"Who's says I'll pretend?" I shot back, as he led us down the stairs. The people around the computer turned and looked up, but then back down at the computer. Okay, I'll admit that our plan was almost foolproof, but I still didn't trust this guy.

Soon, we were back in the plain white hallways, following the dull gray metal floor. Naps dragged us behind him, casting glances at the occaisonal Peon that passed by. Every second seemed like it lasted an hour. Seconds turned to minutes, and the minutes turned into an hour.

Finally, we stood at the elevator that led to the entrance. "Almost there," Naps whisper to us quietly, hoping that none of the security camera's audio receptors could pick it up. Most of the cameras were smashed, though.

Unfortunately, the elevator was at the top, and we had to wait for it to come down. When it did, there was a girl that looked like she was in her late teens, with two long ponytails of pink hair that reached down to her ankles.

"So, Naps. Like, where are you taking the professor and this kid?" She asked, folding her arms. "I was so not informed of a transfer."

"Um...well," Naps geniusly stated. "Miss Lovrina, I've been given orders by Grand Master Greevil himself to release the professor. He simply refuses to help."

Lovrina did a double take. "But we, like, need the professor. He is so the key to perfecting XD001."

"But the Grand Master said-"

"Let me see the orders, like, right now," she demanded, tapping her foot. There was yet another silence, and no one moved. When Naps didn't cough up the orders, Lovrina smiled. "I so knew that you were, like, lying."

I released Eve from her ball. "Shit, we've been made."

Lovrina pulled out two Pokeballs. "It appears that I have to, like, take you out." She sent out a Beautifly and a Lovdisc. "And Naps, you are so a traitor."

"I know," he replied. "But kickin' an Admins ass, especially one as annoying as yourself, is worth it. And besides, I've seen enough movies to know that the bad guys never win." He tossed out a Pokeball, and released the Beldum contained inside.

"Well, then," Lovrina said, "Lovdisc, you should so use, like, Water Gun on that hunk of scrap."

"Eve, use bite!" I ordered. The Umbraeon lunged out, and bit down on the Lovdisc, and Eve took the full force of the water stream, which did nearly nothing against her.

Lovrina stomped. "That was like, totally unfair," she exclaimed. "Beauitfly, you should so use Silver Wind on that Umbraeon." The butterfly spun around serveral times, creating a wind infused with Bug-Type power.

Eve cried out in pain, stumbling back from the super-effective attack. "Beldum, use Take Down!" Naps commanded, and the hunk of scrap flung itself at the butterfly, nailing straight in the face, scoring a critical hit.

The Beautifly fell to the ground, knocked out. Naps' Beldum also recevied some pretty heavy damage from the attack, since he got a critical hit.

Lovrina growled in rage. "This is like, so messed up," she stated, sending out a Roselia. "Use Toxic."

The little flower shot a blob of poison at both Eve and Beldum. "Intercept it Beldum, and then use Take Down!" Naps said. His Beldum collided with the poison, and the blob fell apart, missing Eve by a mile. Then, Beldum smashed into Roselia, taking them both to the ground.

Roselia easily jumped back up, while Beldum was staggering all over the place in mid air. "Hold it together, Beldum," Naps pleaded. "Just a little bit more." Beldum turned away from him, with a hint of defiance.

"Eve, finish off the Lovdisc with Bite!" Eve chomped down on the heart-shaped fish, and flung it aside, knocking it out. "That was easy enough."

Lovrina was steaming. "I'm like, so done here." She tossed out her last Pokemon, which was revealed to be a Delcatty.

The shadow moniter beeped, and the lense slid out, and the aura appeared around the Delcatty. Perfect.

"Beldum use Take Down on the Roselia!" With a mighty thud, the Roselia and Beldum were on the ground. Beldum was out cold, while Roselia still had a little fight left in it, but it was pinned under the cobalt steel of Beldum, completely unable to move.

"Delcatty, use like Shadow Rush!" The bigass cat engulfed itself in a dark aura, and slammed into Eve. My Umbraeon struggled to stay on her feet, swaying from side to side. "Now like finish it off with another one!"

Eve was struck again, and fell to the ground. She cried out weakly in pain, and passed out. I was left with Ursla, and I didn't think that Naps had another Pokemon on him.

"Don't fail me," I whispered, taking out Ursla's Pokeball. "Please don't fail me." I tossed it out, and the Teddiursa appeared, claws out and ready to fight. "Use Return on Delcatty!"

Ursla bravely ran at the ferocious feline swinging wildly with her claws. When they struck, the Delcatty recoiled and jumped back.

"Nice choice, David," Krane commended. "Return works better for Pokemon that really like their trainers, so maybe Mr. Naps might want to give it a try."

I tossed a Pokeball at the Delcatty, and Lovrina turned beet red as it was confined inside of it. It wiggled on the ground once, and the cat broke out. "Shit. Naps, you're in full control of Ursla for right now. Don't screw up."

"I won't," he said, trying to screw his courage to the sticking place. "Use Return on the Roselia while its down." Ursla's claws struck the pinned flower the same time my second Pokeball hit that Delcatty. The plan was to use Pokeballs to stall the cat while Ursla took out the Roselia.

The Roselia didn't have chance. It was already weak, and stuck under a hunk of scrap. Delcatty broke out of the ball without a fight. "Like, Shadow Rush!" Lovrina ordered, with a smidge of confidence in her voice.

Ursla came flying back, and hit the wall, sliding down like people do in cartoons. She stood up, but was staggering more than a drunk redneck on New Years. "Use Return," Naps commanded, and once more into the fray did Ursla run, claws flailing. When she struck the Delcatty, she collasped in a heap at its feet, exhausted.

This was our last chance. I threw the Pokeball, and Delcatty was drawn inside of it. It shook once, twice, thrice. Click.

I dropped to my knees and raised my hands to the sky. "Success!" I shouted.

"That is like, so not cool!" Lovrina cried out as she stomped toward the Pokeball. "That's like so against League rules!"

Naps beat her to the Pokeball, and stared down at her. "We're leaving, and there's nothing you can do about it," he said, and stepped into the elevator. "Let's get out of here." I followed him, and Krane took a step forward, before noticing something on the ground. With a swift kick, he sent it inside of the glass doors, and I picked it up. It was a disk of some sort.

"Wait for me!" another voice called out, and we turned to see Trevor running full speed at us, with Gold in tow. He breezed past Lovrina, and into the already cramped lift. "Don't worry, Jake isn't with us."

I sighed in relief. That tin can was good to have around, but not in tight spaces. "Let's go. I want to check on Dawn."

"What happened to her?" Krane asked, looking down at me as the elevator started up. "Fall off the scooter again?"

"I wish." I took a deep breath. "She was shot. Six times." Once again, for like the seventh time today, complete and awkward silence. "She might make it, might not."

"Hey, don't talk like that," Trevor said, "of course she'll make it." His eyes widened. "Oh shit, I forgot. They sent out a second team to try to kill her. We need to get back to Gateon."

"Shit," I repeated as the doors slid open at the top floor of the base. "Hurry!" We all took off running, heading straight for the point where Adian was going to evac us. Krane and Naps followed, occaisonally casting a glance back at the base to see if anyone was following.

"Jake went ahead to help, but it might be too late," Trevor informed me. "But with Luna and Skyler there, she might be safe."

"I'd prefer to be there," I said, as Adian's pickup truck came into view on the horizon. In all honesty, I had a sinking feeling about all of this.

* * *

**-Meanwhile at the Gateon Hopital-**

Luna sat on one of the room, and Skyler sat on the other. Dawn was laying on the bed in between them, with weak but steady breathing. Neither dared take their eyes off of her. Luna's Nidoking, Luka, sat in the corner, alert and ready for action.

Untouched trays of food sat on both end tables, the hamburgers and fries cold. The room was dead silent, and there was a feeling that a presense hung in the room, as if a ghost was watching.

"You know," Skyler said, breaking the silence. "We've been in here for hours, and this is the first time we've said anything."

Luna nodded. "Well, yeah. They moved Dawn from the life support room an hour ago, and that had to be the most exciting thing that's happened here."

Before anything else could be said, the building shook, and the roar of an explosion rang out.

"What the hell?" Skyler asked, standing up and opening the door. The two police officers that were standing guard had their pistols out, and were glancing each way. "What happened?"

"Don't know," one said. "Sounded like a bomb went off. Chief Maddison went to investigate, so sit tight, and we'll keep you informed. We might need to move Hikari to Phenac, so prepare for that."

"Ten-four," Skyler said, and slammed the door. "You hear that?"

Luna nodded. "Yeah, although I don't think that we need to pack anything, since we really didn't bring anything."

One of the police officers opened the door and leaned in. "From what we can tell, some idiot mixed together some chemicals that shouldn't have been mixed, and it went off in one of the life support rooms. We don't think it to be much of a concern." He went back out and closed the door.

"Yeah, explosions aren't something to be concerned about," Luna said sarcastically. "We really need to get out of here."

"Uh...what's going on?" Dawn asked, sitting up. Luna, Skyler, and Luka stared with wide open eyes, and mouths hanging open. "What?"

"You were shot six times, and now you don't even seem like there's anything wrong with you," Skyler pointed out. "Please tell me that you weren't faking. If you were, it's not funny."

Dawn blinked. "Um...yeah. I remember all the shooting and all that. But I feel completely fine." She jumped out of the hospital bed and began moving aroung. "I feel fine."

Luna and Skyler stared at each other. "Well, this certainly changes things."

* * *

_**A/N: Well, this is officially the longest chapter I've ever written for any of my stories, at 6000+ words. I hope I did good with his chapter, as I work really hard on it, taking almost seven hours writing it in total. If you have any tips on how I can improve, please let me know. And don't forget to review.**_


	14. Chapter 14: Descision

_Chapter Fourteen: Decision_

"How do I look?" David asked, brushing out the wrinkles in his baggy blue jeans. He straightened his shirt, and looked at the mirror on the wall.

I sighed, looking up from the newspaper I was reading. "You look fine. And quit worrying, Dawn will be glad to see you no matter how you look."

He glared down at me. "Was that a compliment?"

It was about 9 am the day after we rescued Krane, and we were waiting around in the hospital at Gateon Port since we had recieved a call from Skyler stating that there had been an attack, but Dawn was fine and completely awake. And that brings us to the present, where we're only operating on three hours of sleep.

"Possibily, just go and see her already," I urged, turning to the sports section, despite the fact that I wasn't really into sports. "Don't keep her waiting. Trust me, I know Dawn, she doesn't like waiting."

David shrugged, not bothering to ask how I knew. To be honest, I didn't really know. "Well," he grabbed a bunch of flowers from a nearby vase and headed to the elevator. "We'll be back."

The reason I wasn't going up with him was because Dawn still hated me, and David was yet to break the news to her. She had been unconscious, though.

Gold was sitting next to me on the sofa, and weighing the cushion down under her rocky weight. "So, are you really dragging that Aggron with us?" she asked, eyes boring holes in Jake, who was sitting on the other side of the room, staying alert.

"I thought we went over this," I said. "He sounded sincere, so I gave him a chance. He said that the Charizard that he was working for claimed that you were something more than you actually are."

"Of course I'm special," she agreed, "I'm shiny. Those are rare."

I nodded. "Yeah, you the only one I've ever met...I think."

Gold shrugged, and looked away, lost in thought. I went back to reafing the paper, and that was how we spent the next couple of minutes.

"Are you sure that you want him with us?" my Geodude asked, breaking the silence. "After, he might try to kill. It could be a ruse."

I sighed. "I know how you feel about him. I feel almost the same way. But we need to get over this, and the best way is to befriend the one who killed Zen." I resumed reading the paper, hoping not to hear another word out of Gold on the topic.

"So, then it's me or him."

"What?"

Gold folded her arms and stared up at me. "Either you keep me, or you keep him. You're not gonna have both."

"Come on, Gold. It's not all that bad." I shot a quick glance at Jake, and saw that he was staring out the window, looking for threats. He couldn't hear our conversation. "I'm not going to choose between the two of you."

Gold closed her eyes and turned away. "So you're saying that the Aggron is staying with you?"

"Yes," I answered. Dammit, why did she have to make this so freaking hard? "But, if you're so consistent, then I'll give you the same option that I gave you when I first caught you. If you want to leave, then leave. I won't hold a Pokemon against its will." That was the only option I really had.

She looked slightly amused, as if she never thought I would offer her that option again. "Well," Gold said, shrugging. "If he's staying, then I'm leaving." She jumped, or rather floated off the sofa, and turned to me. "But, if he tries to kill you, don't say that I didn't warn you."

I felt saddness, anger, and fustration as I tried to deal with what just happened. I had lost yet another team member, even if it was for the better. At least I hoped it was for the better. Jake seemed sincere when he said what he said, and I believed him. So far he hasn't proven me wrong.

Sighing, I leaned back on the sofa. I let my head fall back so I was staring at the ceiling of the lobby, observing each and every little crack in the white plaster. "I let her have what she wanted, and now everyone's happy," I mumbled to myself, trying to ease the pain.

I hadn't know Gold all that long, about two weeks. But still, she was my friend, and was my Pokemon. With a deep breath, I looked down at my belt where my current three Pokemon were. It seemed strange for there to be one missing. When I lost Zen, Gold was there to fill that gap. Now who? Jake? I didn't think he would go for the whole captured inside a Pokeball gig.

"I could go for a drink right now," I muttered. "Even though I'm not an alcoholic." I released a breath. "Being a trainer is harder than I thought. I think, I can't really remember."

My thoughts were interrupted by a rattling sound, and several people glanced my way. It took me a few seconds to notice that David had left his phone on the table from when he shook the sand out of his jacket. It vibrated again, rattling the glass tabletop.

I picked it up, making sure that the caller was someone worth listening to. It was. "Hello?" I asked, answering it as I held it up to my ear. "Professor Krane?"

_"Ah, hello!" _came the cheery reply. It sounded tinny and far away, maybe since there was bad reception here in the Port, and better reception in the desert. The world is screwed up like that, ya know? _"Is this David?"_

"No, this is Trevor," I said. "Can I help you with something? Or do you want me to go get David?"

_"Nah, you'll do fine,"_ Krane answerd. There was a pause. _"You seem tense. Is there somethring wrong? How's Miss Hikari?"_

"She's fine, but I had to release on of my Pokemon a few minutes ago. She couldn't get over the fact that the Aggron that killed Zen is traveling with us."

Once again, there was a pause. _"I'm going to pretend that I understood that. Tell me the story sometime in the future. But losing a Pokemon is hard, but we all face it sooner or later. If it's what she wanted, then it's all good, right?"_

I smiled, slightly. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking. So, what did you need me to do?"

_"Oh, right," _he exclaimed, returning to the topic. _"We finished the Purify Chamber, and we want you to send a Shadow Pokemon, if you have any, over to us so we can get it tested. Kapeesh?"_

David's backpack was leaning against the table, and next to it was the pouch with the snagged Shadow Pokemon. "Yeah, I can do that." I glanced up, and on the other side of the hospital lobby's reception desk was a PC for trainer use. "Give me a minute."

Snatching one of the Pokeballs from the bag, I went over to the PC and deposited it. "You'll have to walk me through this, Professor."

_"Link up with the Lab, find the send option, and send the Pokemon. We'll do the rest." _

A few clicks later, and the Pokemon, the Numel, was off. "It's away," I informed him. "Let me know when it reaches there safely."

_"And...we have it," _ Krane said. _"Numel, right?"_

"That's it."

_"All right. We'll test the chamber, and get back to you in a few days," _he told me. _"In the meantime, I need all of you to go to Pyrite Town and see if we can get that data rom that we found at Cipher's base can be broken into. Try the OBNS station."_

"Okay, I'll let the others know. Bye," I said, hanging up. Well, it looks like we going off on another adventure soon. I slid the phone into my pocket, and sighed, looking up at Jake.

_What if he isn't telling truth? What if Gold was right?_

_There is no way to know,_ the voice in my head said. _Time will only tell._

I honestly couldn't tell whether or not if the voice was really just my thoughts, the ones I really believed in, trying to make themselves prominent subconscisously.

Jake clomped over, nearly plowing down a couple sitting and waiting for some news from some doctor. "You look stressed."

"I am," I replied, sighing. "Gold just left our team, and I don't know how to feel. It's a wierd feeling not knowing how to feel."

"If you really love something, set it free," Jake reminded me, scratching at the tiles beneath him with his heavy metal foot. He glanced down at the ground, as if lost in some memory. Something I wished I had.

"I know, but first Zen, and now Gold. Who's next? I don't think I could take something like this for a third time."

"What do you think you should do?" Jake asked.

"I've thought about leaving Orre, and going to Hoenn," I answered. "Just to get away from here. To get away from it all."

Jake nodded, and shrugged. "I see. And if you were to leave, when would you go?"

"I've got enough money for a boat ticket for one person, and one Pokemon," I said. Pointing toward the sea where several ships were docked, I continued. "I would leave right now. But I don't know."

* * *

**Shorter Chapter than I hoped for, but I keep receiving popups on my computer say that the hard disk has an error, and it could go at any minute. So I wanted to get this up before that happened. So if I don't update for a while, you'll know the reason.**

**Secondly, I've been thinking alot about this, and am considering ending this story right smack in the middle. My reasons are to be kept anon. I personally want to go to the end, but I've kinda lost all of the excitement in this story. Or, an option would be for the sequal to contain two story lines, following Trevor through Hoenn, and every other chapter would be the events in Orre. So, I want to see what the readers think. Honestly, I think I know the outcome.**


	15. Epilouge

_Epilouge-A Farewell_

**If you haven't guess by the title chapter, I've decided to split off from Orre, and Trevor is going to Hoenn. However, I'm going to set it up so I might be able to finish the Orre storyline in the future. But stayed tuned for the sequal, which might be up in a few days. **

David and Skyler helped support Dawn as they slowly progressed to the hospital's elevator, hoping to get Dawn checked out and back into traveling condition.

Dawn was slightly mad at them, still angered at Trevor. After all, the evidence against him was pretty convincing. "Are you sure he's not some creep? That article seemed to say other wise," she protested as Luna mashed down the button for the lobby.

"No," David answered honestly. "I'm not sure. But we judged him too fast. We didn't really give him a chance to explain."

Scoffing Dawn replied, "Yeah, as if its completely normal for someone to know quite a bit about a person that has never met them."

"Nikki's famous," Skyler argued. "Chances are that he easily could've gotten the information off of a social media site."

The elevator binged, and the doors retracted into the walls, allowing them into the lobby. David looked around, but Trevor was no where in sight. "I thought he said he'd wait here," he mused, looking around the room.

"Well, he's not here," Dawn said, stating the obvious.

David's eyes rested on a piece of paper that was on the table where he'd left his phone with Trevor. The stationary was weighed down by three standard red and white Pokeballs. Sliding the note out, David read it aloud to the group.

_Dear David, Skyler, Luna, and Dawn,_

_I've been thinking about this for a while, and I've had a lot on my mind. I think that you would understand my choice to go to Hoenn if you had amnesia as well; it doesn't work very well under the pressure that Cipher's been putting on us. I talked it out with Bark, Ivy and Aqua, and they were understanding when I said that I couldn't take them with me. So I leave them entrusted to the only friends I had in the world that I can remember. Gold left my team after a dispute about Jake, so she's free._

_No matter how hard I look, I can't find anything that points to who I am, which leads me to believe that there is more to this than meets the eye. Hopefully, a fresh start in Hoenn will be what I need. I know that the four of you can beat Cipher without me, and I wish you luck as you do so. I plan on returning to Orre in the future to retreive Bark, Ivy, and Aqua, so until we meet again, I bid thee a farewell._

_-Trevor_

There was a stunned silence as the four fifteen year olds looked around ate each other, their minds trying to comprehend what they had just heard. David crumpled the note up into a ball and shoved it into his pocket. "I guess there's nothing we can do now."

Dawn released a deep breath. "If you want, I'll take care of his Pokemon, since you all have yours already."

They all agreed up on this, and they went on with their lives.

In the days after Trevor'd departure, the four of them took the data rom to Pyrite, where the learned that Cipher was planning an attack on a small city, but that attack never happened. Cipher went off the grid. A few Shadow Pokemon popped up, and were snagged and purified at the lab.

But, much later, when Trevor did return to Orre, Cipher suddenly made a comeback. Coincidence? Absolutely not.

* * *

"And that pretty much sums up my experience in Orre," I said, leaning back in my armchair. My grandkids stared at me. "What?"

"Don't you ever finish what you start?" Kaylee asked. "You ended the first story in the middle, and now this one too."

I smiled. "I'm telling it as it happened. Like I said, I eventually would return, and Cipher would make a comeback."

"Yeah, but still."

I sighed, shaking my head sadly. Glancing over, I saw that my daughter, their mother, was asleep. Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was half past ten. Far past the younger ones' bed time. "Do you want me to start the Hoenn story? Or should I wait until later?"

Kaylee shrugged. "So you actually finish this one?"

I nodded. "Technically, I finished the other two as well, even though their ends were in the middle of the standard journey."

Kara typed something into her laptop, and then looked up at me expectantly. "When ever you're ready."

"Well then, it was a warm day in August when I landed in Hoenn..."


End file.
